June 08, 2024

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Celebrates Release of Dr. Mary Edwards Walker Commemorative Quarter

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-12) released the following statement celebrating the United States Mint beginning shipments of the American Women Quarter honoring Dr. Mary Edwards Walker. Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was the first female United States Army surgeon, and the only woman to be awarded the Medal of Honor. 

“As the Congressional sponsor of the bill establishing the American Women Quarters program years ago, I am proud to see yet another brilliant yet underrecognized woman in American history honored. The third coin of the 2024 American Women Quarters Program will celebrate the life and work of Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, whose influential work has shaped many facets of American life,” said Congresswoman Lee. "Dr. Edwards Walker defied society’s expectations of women by bravely serving as a surgeon during the Civil War. Her courage, perseverance and dedication to democracy and equity must never be forgotten."

Authorized by Public Law 116-330, the American Women Quarters Program made possible by Congresswoman Lee’s Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020 features coins with reverse (tails) designs emblematic of the accomplishments and contributions of trailblazing American women. The ethnically, racially, and geographically diverse group of individuals honored through this program reflects a wide range of accomplishments and fields, including suffrage, civil rights, abolition, government, humanities, science, space, and the arts.