Emily Warren Roebling
Emily Warren Roebling's public story begins with a bridge, or perhaps more accurately, it starts with the longing for one over the East River, connecting the shores of Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York. It was the mid-19th century then, and the thriving boroughs were bustling city centers of industry, trade, and population growth. The river made travel and commerce inconvenient and unreliable, with often delayed and overcrowded ferries. A bridge would solve the problems.
But not everyone believed in the idea of a bridge. Some thought that building one was madness. Which, in some ways, it was. Construction would be a remarkable engineering feat, pushing the boundaries of what had previously been attempted. Covering a distance of 1.1 miles (about 1.8km), it would be the longest suspension bridge ever built. And this is where the story of the bridge merges with Emily's life. While she didn't come up with the idea, Emily would bring the Brooklyn Bridge to life.
Emily was born in the picturesque town of Cold Spring, New York, in 1843, the eleventh of twelve children. Her well-established father served as a local politician and, having the financial means provided his children with a comfortable life, including rigorous schooling for Emily. In addition to her education, Emily's family set good examples for life aspirations. She learned from her parents and older brother, Gouverneur K. Warren, who became a Civil War hero during the Battle of Gettysburg. For the Warren family, intellect and courage were two of the most important values.
Emily carried both into adult life as she began her own family when she married Washington Roebling in 1865. They had a child, and soon, Washington began working with his father, John, a brilliant engineer who had made a name for building suspension bridges. John was in pursuit of his latest dream, the Brooklyn Bridge. Sadly, however, he would not live to see it through. He passed away from tetanus shortly after sustaining a serious injury while working on the bridge's foundations in 1872.
The death left Washington in command, continuing the work on building the bridge's massive foundation in the riverbed. It was grueling and hazardous, and the pressurized conditions led to Washington contracting Caisson disease, a decompression sickness. The poorly understood malady had devastating effects, leaving Washington partially paralyzed and bedridden. It was a catastrophic blow to the Roebling family and the project.
"She is...a most entertaining talker, which is a mighty good thing you know." - Washington Roebling about Emily
It wasn't clear that building the Brooklyn Bridge could go on without Washington. But during what must have been a deeply difficult time for Emily, she and Washington made the decision that along with caring for him, she would also take part in building the bridge. Without formal training in engineering, Emily immersed herself in the science and mechanics of bridge construction as the family home transformed into a command center, where she and Washington worked side-by-side. Washington provided instructions from his bed while Emily transcribed, studied, and eventually mastered the technical details. Emily would go to the construction site each day, while Washington could see the progress using a telescope that looked out from the bedroom. Over time, she took on a more leadership role, driving the development and management of the project.
After eleven years of hard work, Emily became the first person to cross the Brooklyn Bridge when it opened in May of 1883. In one tribute to Emily for her work, someone said:
"One name which will find no place in the official records cannot be passed over here in silence. In ancient times when great works were constructed a goddess was chosen to whose tender care they were dedicated. Thus the ruins of the acropolis to-day recall the name of Pallas Athena to an admiring world. In the Middle Ages the blessing of some saint was invoked to protect from the rude assaults of the barbarians and the destructive hand of time the building erected by man's devotion to the worship of God. So with this bridge will ever be coupled the thought of one through the subtle alembic of whose brain and by whose facile fingers communication was maintained between the direct power of its construction and the efficient agent of its execution. It is thus an everlasting monument to the self-sacrificing devotion of woman and of her desire for that higher education from which she has been too long debarred. The name of Mrs. Emily Warren Roebling will thus be inseparably associated with all that is admirable in human nature and with all that is wonderful in the constructive world of art."
In later years, Emily completed a law course at New York University, fulfilling a lifelong goal of becoming part of the legal profession. But not long after, she passed away in 1903 at the age of 59.
Sources:
Brooklyn Eagle, March 01, 1903, https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/53405737
“Emily Warren Roebling.” American Society of Civil Engineers, https://www.asce.org/about-civil-engineering/history-and-heritage/notable-civil-engineers/emily-warren-roebling
LeBold, William K., and Dona J. LeBold. “Women Engineers: A Historical Perspective.” ASEE Prism, vol. 7, no. 7, 1998, pp. 30–32. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24157020. Accessed 7 Nov. 2024.
“Life Story: Emily Warren Roebling (1843–1903).” Women and the American Story, https://wams.nyhistory.org/industry-and-empire/labor-and-industry/emily-warren-roebling/
“Portrait of Emily Warren Roebling.” Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Paul Roebling, https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/4960
“Scientist of the Day – Emily Warren Roebling.” Linda Hall Library, https://www.lindahall.org/about/news/scientist-of-the-day/emily-warren-roebling/
Wikimedia Commons, Wikimedia Foundation, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Museum_-_Portrait_of_Emily_Warren_Roebling_-_Charles-%C3%89mile-Auguste_Carolus-Duran.jpg & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Currier_and_Ives_Brooklyn_Bridge2.jpg
Note: story first published at https://historicalsnaps.com/2024/11/07/emily-warren-roebling-the-brooklyn-bridge/.