One-Woman Show Brings Dr. Mary Walker to Life on the Stage!

OSWEGO COUNTY – Come out to learn more about the woman behind the legend – Dr. Mary Edwards Walker: activist, trailblazer, Civil War surgeon and, so far, the only woman to receive a U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor – as the fascinating one-woman show, “Independence: The True Story of Dr. Mary Walker” comes to Oswego County this fall.

The Oswego County Historical Society and the Oswego County Dr. Mary Edwards Walker Celebratory Committee have been working to bring the show to Central New York to ensure that every county resident has an opportunity to learn about, and understand the importance of, Dr. Walker in local and national history.

Thanks to the diligent efforts of its members, the Oswego County Historical Society was able to secure a grant from New York State Council on the Arts to help cover the production’s greatest costs, such as travel and accommodations, which allowed a series of performances and workshops to be held in schools and other locations at a reduced cost.

Some of these performances are planned exclusively for students to learn about the legendary Dr. Walker, while others are open to the public, including:

The first show, which is also sponsored by ARTSwego, begins at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 2 at SUNY Oswego’s Marano Campus Center Auditorium Room 132 and admission is free. Go to https://oswego.universitytickets.com/w/event.aspx?id=9609&p=1 to reserve a seat.

The second public performance is a fundraiser for the Oswego High School Drama Club, which co-sponsored the production. It starts at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5 at the school’s Robinson-Faust Theater, 2 Buccaneer Blvd., Oswego. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students/youth and there is a small service fee for credit card pre-sales. Cash is accepted at the door if there are remaining tickets. Go to https://ohsdrama.ticketleap.com/drwalker/ to purchase tickets.

A third show is planned for 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 7 at the Half-Shire Historical Society, 1100 Co. Rte. 48, Richland. Admission is free, although donations to the Half-Shire Historical Society are welcomed and light refreshments will be served. Reservations are not required but may be made by email to Shawn Doyle at [email protected].

“Independence: The True Story of Dr. Mary Walker” is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the New York State Governor, the New York State Legislature and the Oswego County Legislature.

Lloyd J. Schwartz wrote the play in 2017 and directed its world premiere with actress Kathie Barnes in Seneca Falls, N.Y. as part of the 100th anniversary celebration of women getting the right to vote in New York State. The show was later produced at Princeton University and other schools and theaters around the country.

This past June, the National Women’s Museum and the U.S. Mint celebrated the release of the Dr. Mary Edwards Walker Quarter with a ceremony that included a five-minute excerpt from “Independence.”

Following its residency in Oswego County, the show will make an additional appearance in northern New York to share Dr. Mary Walker’s story.

Born in Oswego Town in 1832, Dr. Mary Edwards Walker is one of the most significant individuals in 19th century America. She was the second woman in the United States to get a medical degree as a surgeon before serving in the U.S. Civil War, for which she was awarded the Medal of Honor.

Her accomplishments during the Civil War of course were heroic: she bravely treated Union and Confederate soldiers alike, possibly served as a spy, was captured as a prisoner of war and later exchanged for a male Confederate surgeon.

But it is her post-war accomplishments that mark her as trailblazer for women’s rights. For the rest of her life, she campaigned for equality of the sexes, especially women’s suffrage and dress reform; essentially, a woman’s right to vote and to wear pants.

To this day, Dr. Mary Walker remains an inspiration to students; especially girls, who sometimes still need to feel equal to the boy students in STEM subjects like math and science.

To learn more about Dr. Mary Walker, visit the Oswego County Historical Society at the Richardson-Bates House Museum, 135 E. Third St., Oswego, N.Y. or the Oswego Town Historical Society Museum, 2320 Co. Rte. 7, Oswego, N.Y.

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