• SCULPTOR
• One of the FIRST Black sculptors to gain international recognition
• Not only did she defy racist stereotypes by pursuing a career in art, but she confronted sexism as well, as sculpture was considered a masculine art form
• Born Mary Edmonia Lewis, daughter of a Chippewa mother and a free Black West Indian father, both of whom died when she was young
• Little is known about her childhood -- depending on her audience, she could either play up her Native American identity and experiences or distance herself from them, even going so far as to refer to Native Americans as "dirty" in one interview
• With financial support from her half-brother, she attended Oberlin College, but experienced significant racism, including being falsely accused of poisoning two white students and stealing art supplies, and was unable to finish
• Moved to Boston and started gaining a reputation for her marble busts of famous abolitionists
• In 1864 she set up a studio in Rome, where celebrities such as Frederick Douglass and Ulysses S. Grant visited her
• Though reviews of her work were generally positive, they were also patronizing, steeped in racist and sexist commentary
• Shifted focus in the latter part of her career to Native American themes, exhibiting her work in booths shaped like wigwams

Cleopatra in Chicago

Lewis's most famous work, The Death of Cleopatra, was created while she was in Rome and exhibited at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. Weighing more than 3,000 pounds and showing Cleopatra dead and bare-breasted, the statue was both praised and criticized for its realism. Lewis was unable to sell the work so she put it in storage in Chicago, where it remained until she could no longer afford the storage fees. Thus began an almost century-long journey that would see this work of art serve as a saloon owner's good luck charm, a horse's headstone, scrap yard decor, and a service project for the local Boy Scouts. Eventually the sculpture was properly identified, and in the mid 1990s it was obtained and repaired by the Smithsonian, where it still resides today.

Bibliography: Green, Penelope. (2018, July 25). Overlooked No More: Edmonia Lewis, Sculptor of Worldwide Acclaim. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/25/obituaries/overlooked-edmonia-lewis-sculptor.html
Hutchinson, Elizabeth. "Lewis, Edmonia." The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History, Vol. 3, Oxford University Press, 2008, 99-100.
Luther, Elaine. Lost and Found: Edmonia Lewis and The Death Of Cleopatra. http://moorewomenartists.org/lost-found-edmonia-lewis-death-cleopatra/
Mitchell, Saundra. 50 Unbelievable Women and their Fascinating (and True!) Stories. New York: Puffin Books, 2016. Print.

Biographies for Kids and Young Adults

(graphic novel format)

Research

Historical Fiction

Meet more Awesome Women like this

Please note that while Awesome Women Library tries to include links only to media from reputable sources, we cannot attest to the quality or content of any media listed on this website. Our mission is to introduce you to these Awesome Women and give you a wide array of resources for learning more. We haven't read everything listed and are not a recommendation site, nor is this meant to be an exhaustive catalog of every book related to this woman -- there's just too much out there! Happy reading!!