The Physician to Soldier Pipeline · Episode 12 of 14 · 22 min
The Door That Opens Only in a Shortage
In 1865 Mary Edwards Walker received the Medal of Honor with a note that she could not be given officer's rank because she was a civilian; in 1917 the medal was taken back on that same ground. The episode follows Black physicians and women doctors through the Army's shortages, with doors opening partway and closing again once the need passed.
Who's who
- Mary Edwards WalkerCivilian contract surgeon; Medal of Honor 1865, rescinded 1917
- Alexander T. AugustaFirst African American commissioned as an Army medical officer
- Anderson R. AbbottBlack surgeon who ran the Contraband Hospital
- Loy McAfeeContract surgeon anesthetist who edited the Army Medical Department's war history
- Margaret D. CraighillFirst woman physician commissioned in the Army Medical Corps, 1943
- Charles R. DrewBlood banking pioneer whose death is the subject of a false legend
- Margaret Chase SmithCongresswoman who forced permanent status for women into the 1948 integration act
- Emily Dunning BarringerPresident of the American Medical Women's Association
Where it happens
- Fort Des Moines, Iowa1917 segregated camp where 104 Black physicians were commissioned
- Castle Thunder, Richmond, VirginiaPrison where Walker was held in 1864
- Toronto, Canada+1 more episodeWhere Augusta trained after being refused by American schools
- Liberia+2 more episodesDestination of thirty Black Army nurses in 1943
Timeline
- April 14, 1863Augusta is commissioned major and surgeon
- November 11, 1865Walker receives the Medal of Honor
- 1917Walker's medal is rescinded; Black physicians commissioned at Fort Des Moines
- 191855 women physicians sign on as contract surgeons; eleven are sent overseas, all anesthetists
- April 16, 1943Sparkman Act makes women physicians commissionable
- June 12, 1948Women's Armed Services Integration Act signed
Still debated
Sources disagree on who restored Walker's medal, on its award date, and on the number of Black surgeons in the Union Army. Whether Anderson Abbott was ever commissioned is disputed.
