Civil War surgeon honoured in the American Women Quarters Program

The new coin’s reverse side shows Mary Edwards Walker holding her pocket surgical kit, with the Medal of Honor on her uniform and surgeon’s pin attached to her collar. To the left of the depiction of Dr Walker a more detailed depiction of the Medal of Honor is shown. The obverse side of the coin shows a portrait of George Washington. This design was originally sculpted by Laura Gardin Fraser as an entry for the 1932 quarter which marked the bicentennial of the birth of George Washington. 

Collectors can purchase the new coin showing Dr Mary Edwards Walker from the United States Mint, with prices starting from $40, a 2024 proof set of the 5 coins being released this year can be purchased for just $23.

Above: The reverse of the latest coin in the American Women Quarters Program shows Dr Mary Edwards Walker, the only women to be awarded the US Medal of Honor.

What is the American Women Quarters Program?

The American Women Quarters Program honours the achievements of notable American women from a variety of fields including civil rights, suffrage, science and the arts. The women who have been chosen to be honoured in the American Women Quarters Program are from ethnically, racially and geographically diverse backgrounds. 

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The program began in 2022 and will continue until 2025, releasing 5 new coins honouring the achievements of American women throughout history. Collectors can subscribe to the program to guarantee fulfilment of the new coins up until 2025. If you’re missing any previous coin releases in the American Women Quarters Program, coins from 2023 and 2022 are still available to purchase from the US Mint in limited numbers. 

Above: The obverse of the new coin features a portrait of George Washington by Laura Gardin Fraser, who originally submitted the design to the 1932 quarter competition, honouring the bicentennial of George Washington's birth

The 4 other women being honoured in the American Women Quarters Program in 2024 are: Reverend Dr Pauli Murray who was a poet, writer, activist, lawyer and Episcopal priest; Patsy Takemoto Mink who fought for gender and racial equality, affordable childcare, bilingual education and was also a member of Congress; Celia Cruz, a Cuban-American singer who was one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century; and Zitkala-Ša, a political activist for Native American rights and citizenship in the early 20th century, she was also a writer, composer and educator. 

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Who was Dr Mary Edwards Walker? 

Dr Mary Edwards Walker was born in November 1832 as the fifth daughter of Alvah and Westa Whitcomb Walker. Her parents started the first free school in Oswego, New York so that their daughters would be just as educated as their son. Walker worked relentlessly to pursue her desire of becoming a doctor and achieved her medical degree in 1855. 

During the American Civil War, Walker was not allowed to serve as a medical officer because of her gender but she decided to serve as a volunteer and in 1863 her request to practise as a surgeon was accepted. On this acceptance, she became the first female US Army surgeon as a ‘Contract Acting Assistant Surgeon (civilian)’. Dr Walker was presented with the US Medal of Honor by President Andrew Johnson in 1865 and to date she is the only woman to be presented this award. The citation included that she had ‘devoted herself with much patriotic zeal to the sick and wounded soldiers, both in the field and hospitals.’

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As well as her work as a Civil War surgeon, she was a women’s rights advocate and also for dress-reform. Dr Walker was arrested numerous times for dressing in men’s clothes and fought for suffrage, believing that the US constitution already granted women the right to vote. Walker died in 1919 at the age of 86 and was buried in a black suit.