Mary Edwards Walker was an assistant surgeon and Union spy during the Civil War, an advocate for women's rights and dress reform, and the first and only woman to receive the Medal of Honor.
NBC News has an in-depth look at the trailblazer, who lived life on her own terms: she wore men's trousers and collared shirts (her fashion choices caused her to get arrested and charged with impersonating a male) and started her own medical practice in New York after earning a degree from Syracuse Medical College. Walker asked to join the Union Army when the Civil War started, but was rejected. Instead, she volunteered, and ended up as an assistant surgeon and spy, ultimately becoming imprisoned for almost six months by the Confederates.
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