[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 49 (Friday, April 12, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E445]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 RECOGNIZING THE LIFE OF MARY E. WALTON

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 12, 2013

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
recognize the life of Ms. Mary E. Walton, a World War II veteran and 
the first African American nurse from Dallas to enlist in the U.S. 
Army. Ms. Walton lived to be 93, and left behind a legacy working as a 
nurse for more than 70 years.
  Ms. Walton had a long and rich history living in Dallas, and remained 
in Dallas for most of her life. Ms. Walton left Dallas to pursue her 
degree in nursing at the Brewster Methodist Hospital School of Nursing 
in Florida--one of the few schools available for black nurses at the 
time--and later enlisted in the Army in 1944.
  Ms. Walton believed that being a nurse was her purpose in life. She 
recalled that working to serve others was the driving force behind her 
dedication as a nurse, and her chief motivation was to pursue a career 
serving others, even in the face of overwhelming adversity and 
discrimination.
  After serving in World War II, Ms. Walton returned to Dallas to 
become a public health nurse at Parkland Hospital, only the second 
African American nurse to be hired there. Ms. Walton would later come 
to work at the Dallas VA Medical Center in the service of other 
veterans--but not until after first being turned away during the late 
1950s, when African Americans were not hired.
  Mr. Speaker, as the first nurse to be elected to the U.S. Congress, I 
am honored to recognize such an influential and historic figure from 
Dallas. Ms. Walton was a selfless caregiver whose faith helped her to 
overcome the challenges of discrimination. We are grateful for Ms. 
Walton's service to our country and courage in the face of adversity, 
and our thoughts are with the friends and family she left behind.

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