It was a celebration of history and heroism as the Oswego community came out for the unveiling of a mural depicting Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, a pioneering surgeon during the Civil War and advocate for women’s rights. The mural, just off the sidewalk on the south side of River’s End bookstore at 19 W. Bridge St. Oswego, near the corner of West First Street, was unveiled with much fanfare Thursday evening.
The mural, created by artists Jessica Culligan and Emily Holm, brings out the fierce determination of a young Dr. Walker as she would have appeared during her service in the Civil War. Dr. Walker was born in Oswego, NY in 1832 and was truly a woman ahead of her time in so many ways. She was the second woman in the United States to obtain a medical degree and the first female graduate of eclectic Syracuse Medical College in 1855. Far more impressive, she became the first and only female recipient of the U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Dr. Walker attempted to join the Union Army but was only offered the chance to become a nurse, which she rejected. Instead, she volunteered in a temporary hospital in Washington D.C. before setting up the Women’s Relief Organization that assisted the families of injured soldiers. In 1863, she was officially confirmed an acting assistant surgeon of the Ohio 52nd Infantry post, which led her to capture and imprisonment by the Confederate forces as a prisoner of war for four months.
It is at this point that Dr. Walker emerged in the line of fire, earning her the Medal of Honor for bravery and devotion. Her name was stricken from the honor roll in 1917 because of changes in eligibility requirements, but she refused to return her medal and continued to wear it for the rest of her life. Her award was reinstated by President Jimmy Carter in 1977.
After the war, Dr. Walker became an author, lecturer, and an active suffragist in the fight for women’s rights and social justice. She gained much attention for the unconventionality of dressing in men’s attire and was arrested on many occasions for impersonating a man. Her most famous work is the book “Hit: Essays on Women’s Rights,” which was published in 1870.
The new mural replaces an older, deteriorated mural that depicted Dr. Walker in her later years. George DeMass, Town of Oswego Historian, said the new artwork intends to, “Imagine her as the young woman she was just after getting home from the Civil War; 33 years old and full of vigor and ambition to advocate for social justice and women’s rights.”
Mindy Ostrow, a retired assistant director of Tyler Art Gallery and instructor in museum studies at SUNY Oswego, chose Culligan and Holm along with a committee of art professionals for their ability to portray realism and capture the spirit of Dr. Walker. “There were other great submissions, but these two showed they had the skills to execute the realism and the face we wanted to see – the bold, determined young woman looking ahead to a life of advocacy,” Ostrow noted.
Her legacy hasn’t been forgotten: in 2023 alone, the U.S. Army Garrison Regional Training Center in Virginia was dedicated as Fort Walker, the U.S. Mint chose her for its 2024 American Women Quarters Program, and her Medal of Honor is displayed permanently by the Richardson-Bates House Museum in Oswego.
This mural project was made possible through the CNY Arts Grants for Regional Arts and Cultural Engagement re-grant program, supported by the New York State Senate Initiative, the New York State Legislature, the Office of the Governor, and administered by the New York State Council on the Arts.
This new mural will symbolize the ongoing fight for equality and justice, and the community’s continued celebration of Dr. Walker’s indomitable spirit.