If I had the opportunity to share a meal with any figure from American history, I would choose Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, the only female recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor and one of the first feminists and dress reformists. One of the reasons I admire Dr. Walker is her ability to fight through prejudice. Dr. Walker lived and worked during the Civil War. She was denied a place as a doctor for the army because of her gender. After three years of volunteer work, she was given a position as a civilian contract surgeon for the Union. Even when so many people told her that she wasn’t going to be able to use her medical knowledge for its intended purposes, she never backed down, all well staying true to who she was. There were many …show more content…
We live in a time where many people live in fear- they are afraid of others and what they will do to them because of things they cannot help like skin color, religion, and sexuality. Something that Dr. Walker possessed was the ability to push past other’s hatred of what she was- something she couldn’t help- and do her job anyways. Whatever she did to force others to see through their prejudice is what we need in today’s world. Dr. Walker fought tirelessly for the respect of others in the medical field, and she did so elegantly. Not with violence, not with words, but with actions. She showed the world what women could do when given the chance. Even today, many people act like they are superior to others because of how they were born, when in reality no one is greater than anyone else for reasons beyond their control. So what would she say to today’s problems? Since she was one of the first feminists, I feel she would be appalled. Nearly 200 years later, and some of the things she fought against are manifesting themselves as issues in different ways. I want to know what advice she would have to offer- would she believe that the way people are fighting for their rights today are effective, or should we be approaching this issue from a different angle? All in all, the reason I would choose Dr. Walker is because of what she is- one of the first feminists- and I would want to