OSWEGO (AP) -- A Central New York town plans to erect a statue of Dr. Mary Walker, a Civil War surgeon who is the only woman awarded a Medal of Honor.
Town of Oswego officials tell the Post-Standard of Syracuse that the 6-foot-tall bronze statue will be dedicated April 30 in front of town hall. Most of the $53,000 cost was covered by individual donations.
Walker was born in the Lake Ontario town in 1832. After earning a medical degree in Syracuse, she and her doctor husband ran a medical practice in Rome. Walker served as a surgeon for the Union Army and received the Medal of Honor in 1865.
It was rescinded by Congress along with 900 others in 1917, then reinstated in 1977.
Walker died in 1919 and is buried in her hometown.
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