Martin School of the Arts to present play on America’s first female surgeon

JOHNSON CITY (March 3, 2020) – “Mary Walker grew up in a time when women didn’t get educated, they just got married,” says actor Kathie Barnes, who portrays Walker in a one-woman show, “Independence: The True Story of Dr. Mary Walker.”

But Walker, the daughter of New York abolitionist parents, not only went to college, but also earned her way through medical school, the only woman in her class at Syracuse Medical College, receiving her medical degree in June 1855 and starting a practice. Walker became a civilian surgeon in the Civil War, was taken prisoner and then released to finish out the war helping injured soldiers and their families on both sides of the battle lines. At the recommendation of Union Maj. Gens. William Tecumseh Sherman and George Henry Thomas, Walker became the only woman to be awarded the U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor. 

On Thursday, March 12, at 7:30 p.m., Barnes will take the stage at East Tennessee State University as Dr. Mary Walker, the first female surgeon in the U.S., and share the physician’s own story of “Independence.”  Tickets for the performance, which will be held in the Bud Frank Theatre in Gilbreath Hall, 441 Stout Drive, are $20 for general admission, $15 for seniors and $5 for students with ID.

The play features not only the historic and heroic story of Walker, a reformer and humanitarian, but also the writing and creative spark of Lloyd J. Schwartz,a co-producer of “The Brady Bunch” and “Gilligan’s Island”; writer for “Love: American Style,” “Alice” and other TV classics; ABC network executive; and writer of 34 plays.

“Independence” had its world premiere in 2017 in Seneca Falls, New York, the birthplace of the women’s movement, as part of the 100th anniversary celebration of women gaining the right to vote in New York. The play introduces a college-age Walker and gallops through school, medical practice, war, imprisonment, reformist activism and lectures around the world on women’s and health issues.

Experts on Walker’s unique history assisted with scripting her story as accurately as possible, but Walker’s story is not in many history books.

“This is a woman people should know about,” Barnes says. “The main reason I do this play is to honor this woman who is and was an amazing human being whose story reverberates even today. She won the Medal of Honor. She has hospitals named after her, but people don’t know who she is.”

Barnes, a 35-year veteran of the stage, screen and television who has portrayed Walker since the premiere, said her life has been greatly influenced by the independent and indomitable spirit she plays.

“As women, we all stand on her shoulders,” says Barnes, who has worked with Schwartz on several productions. “She’s actually made me a stronger woman. She has really influenced me and inspired me to never give in no matter how tired I am. Everything she did was an inspiration.”

Not only was Walker an abolitionist, the first female surgeon and the only female Medal of Honor recipient, but she further expressed her independence, by attempting – unsuccessfully – to vote in 1871, adopting more practical men’s attire, assisting Susan B. Anthony with women’s suffrage and writing books on female equality.

In addition to presenting “Independence,” Barnes and show producer Tina Dwyer, a women’s and gender studies graduate of The College of New Jersey, also will work with ETSU students while on campus.

“We can learn so much from Mary Walker’s story,” says Anita DeAngelis, director of ETSU’s Mary B. Martin School of the Arts, which is sponsoring the performance. “She was a trailblazer in the medical field, in the military, in dress reform, in her personal life and in equality for women in society. She was truly an historic and independent spirit, so far ahead of her time.”

“Independence,” however, is not about gender as much as it is about perseverance and determination, Barnes says, and after performances, audience members of all genders share with her how Walker’s story and their own life journeys intersect.

“This play is about part of our history as Americans and it is extremely inspiring to the human spirit,” Barnes says. “And when I say that, I mean not just for women, but for the human spirit. I think this a play that hits you on a level of your own life.

“It makes you think, ‘I can be doing more than I am doing’ or ‘I always wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer and I settled for something else. I am not going to settle anymore. I’m going to go for it.’ Dr. Mary Walker is an inspiration to anyone who has a dream.”

For more information on “Independence,” visit http://independencedrmarywalker.com.

For more information about the Martin School of the Arts events or tickets, visit www.etsu.edu/martin  or call 423-439-TKTS (8587). For disability accommodations, call the ETSU Office of Disability Services at 423-439-8346.