Pioneer African-American artist Edmonia Lewis was born July 14, 1843; she was is believed to be the first woman sculptor of African-American and Native American heritage. Little is known about Lewis's early life. Sources give differing birth dates—1843 and 1845—and possible birthplaces of Ohio, New York, and New Jersey. Her father was African and her mother was a member of the Ojibwa community.In 1859, Lewis entered Oberlin College in Ohio, where she excelled at drawing. Known as Wildfire in the Ojibwa community, Lewis changed her name to Mary Edmonia during her time at Oberlin; she generally signed her sculptures and her correspondence with the name Edmonia. Unfortunately, when a teacher at Oberlin lost some paintbrushes, Lewis was accused of the theft; she was also accused of attempted murder when two girls fell ill after drinking mulled wine, which Lewis allegedly served them. Although acquitted of both charges, she was not permitted to graduate.
In 1863, she moved to Boston, where abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison introduced her to sculptor Edward Brackett, who became her first mentor. Lewis's earliest sculptures were medallions with portraits of white anti-slavery leaders and Civil War heroes, which she modeled in clay and cast in plaster. Her bust of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw (1865, Museum of Afro-American History, Boston, Massachusetts) depicted the young Bostonian as he led the all-Black battalion, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment, in battle against Confederate forces. Sales of replicas of the bust enabled Lewis to travel to Italy in 1865, where she established a studio in Rome.
Lewis often drew upon her dual ancestry for insight. Her best-known work, "Forever Free" (1867), was inspired by the Emancipation Proclamation. The high point of Lewis's career was the completion of "The Death of Cleopatra" (1876, National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C.), which created a sensation at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition that same year. Other sculptors generally depicted Cleopatra contemplating death; Lewis showed Cleopatra seated upon her throne after death, her head thrown back. In her right hand was the poisonous snake that bit her, while her left arm hung lifelessly. This realistic portrayal ran contrary to the sentimentality about death that was prevalent at the time.
Edmonia Lewis was reported as still living in Rome in 1911, but the date and location of her death are not known.
Reference:
Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia
Darlene Clark Hine, editor
Carlson Publishing Inc., Brooklyn, New York, 1993