Mary Edmonia Lewis (July 4, 1844 - September 17, 1907)

Mary Edmonia Lewis (July 4, 1844 - September 17, 1907) was a talented American sculptor of Haitian and Ojibwe heritage. She is the first credited Black American Indian female sculptor in the U.S. and gained fame and recognition as a sculptor in the international fine arts world.

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Mary Edmonia Lewis - Female sculptor

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Mary Edmonia Lewis (July 4, 1844 - September 17, 1907) was a talented American sculptor of Haitian and Ojibwe heritage. She is the first credited Black American Indian female sculptor in the U.S. and gained fame and recognition as a sculptor in the international fine arts world.

Her father was Haitian of African descent, while her mother was of Mississauga Ojibwe and African descent. Lewis’s mother was known as an excellent weaver and craftswoman. She was nicknamed “wildfire” by her mother’s Native community, the Ojibwe. Her family background inspired Lewis in her later work. She was also inspired by the lives of abolitionists and Civil War heroes.

Mary E. Lewis fell on hard criticism and was accused of several crimes at Oberlin, including the theft of paintbrushes by her art teacher, and even the murder of two female students. The girls apparently drank bad wine that was served by Lewis. Although she was not convicted of either crime, the school revoked her chances of graduation.

In 1863, Edmonia Lewis found friendship with abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. Through Garrison, she was introduced to Edward Brackett who mentored her in her craft. She would become one of the most famed artists in Boston.

Her first creations were medallions with portraits of white anti-slavery leaders and heroes of the Civil War. The replicas from her 1865 bust of Black battalion leader, Robert Gould Shaw, earned her enough money to travel abroad and study in Rome. The bust is now owned by the Museum of Afro-American History in Boston.

Using inspiration from the Emancipation Proclamation, Edmonia Lewis would make her masterpiece and best known sculpture called “Forever Free” in 1867.

Then ten years later, the art world would praise her piece called “The Death of Cleopatra,” because it showed a strong, powerful Cleopatra after death, unlike other artists who made her look weak. The piece is held by the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C.

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