Edmonia Lewis, African-American Artist

She was born sometime around 1845, but her date of death and final resting place remain unknown.

Her father was Haitian of African descent and her mother was of African and Native American Ojibwe heritage. They both died when Lewis was only nine years old. Lewis and her brother lived for three years with their Native American aunts where Lewis helped her aunts sell Obijwe baskets and crafts to tourists. Brother, Samuel, went out west where he became a successful businessman.

Samuel paid for Lewis' tuition to New York Central College. As it turned out, Lewis, who was rather rebellious, was not comfortable with Central College, so she transferred to Oberlin College in Ohio.

Trouble followed Lewis there.

It was the winter of 1862, just after the beginning of the Civil War. Lewis and her two friends, Maria Miles and Christina Ennes, both Caucasian women, were in Lewis' home indulging in winter drinks. Lewis' friends became extremely ill after drinking and were taking to the hospital. It was concluded that the women had ingested some type of poison. Since both women recovered, no action was taken against Lewis at that time.

However, the locals were not adverse to taking matters into their own hands. One night while Lewis walked home alone, she was dragged into an open field and beaten severely. The injuries she sustained kept her bedridden for weeks.

As a result, Lewis was arrested and charged with poisoning her friends. John Mercer Langston was Lewis' representative in the case. He was the only practicing black lawyer in Oberlin at that time. Although the witnesses spoke strongly against Lewis and Lewis herself never testified in her own behalf, she was found not guilty.

After college, Lewis moved to Boston to study under sculptor, Edward Augustus Brackett. Her first piece, a sculpture of a woman's hand, sold for $8.

Her inspiration came from Civil War heroes and Abolitionists. After meeting Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, who was commander of an African-American Civil War regiment, Lewis created a bust of his likeness. The Shaw family was so impressed they purchased the piece. She sold 100 plaster copies of the bust.

With the money she earned from the sale of the Shaw bust and plaster copies, Lewis sailed to Italy in 1865 to study in Rome. Using life, literature and people as her inspiration, Lewis' pieces began to sell for large amounts of money and she lived her life as a successful artist.

Among her works were "The Freed Woman and Her Child" and "Forever Free" both of which celebrated emancipation. Her busts were also popular, including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ulysses S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln and others. Lewis' Lincoln bust was purchased by The Friends of San Jose Library and remains on display at the library.

"Old Arrow-Maker and His Daughter" was a piece which celebrated Lewis' Native American heritage. Committed to detail, Lewis dressed an arrow-maker and his daughter in authentic Native American dress and their features are recognizable as being Native American.

"Hagar" and "The Marriage of Hiawatha" were two very popular and detailed pieces sculpted in marble by Lewis.

In 1876, Lewis created her most controversial piece, "The Death of Cleopatra." It is a minutely-detailed sculpture of Cleopatra after she has been bitten by her asp. Not only was the piece huge - it measure 63" x 31 ¼" x 46" - it weight over 3,000 pounds.

On display at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, the piece drew thousands of visitors even though most found the display of the queen in the ravages of death a shocking piece to behold.

Ironically, this pieces has as myriad a history as Lewis herself. It did not sell at the Centennial Exposition, nor did it sell at the Chicago Interstate Exposition a couple of years later. Lewis placed the piece in storage. Somehow, the piece was lost. However, it turned up in a Chicago saloon, and later as a grave marker for a racehorse named Cleopatra. It was finally rescued from a salvage yard in 1988 by a fire inspector. After restoration of the piece, it was taken to its current display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American Art.

Lewis herself was almost as enigmatic. She claimed her Native American name meant "Wild Fire." She would speak for hours about her pieces to the viewing public. She gave varying years for her date of birth. Her account of growing up after her parent's death varies from her brother's account. According to Samuel Lewis, he took on guardianship of Edmonia after their parents' deaths.

Editor and author Frederick Douglass once visited with Lewis in Rome. She took he and his second wife on a tour around the city and in Naples.

Lewis exhibited "Hiawatha" and "Phillis Wheatley" at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 and the bust of Charles Sumner at the Atlanta World's Fair in 1895.

Beyond that, Lewis may as well have fallen from the face of the earth. Accounts of sightings of Lewis after 1895 break down into mere speculation. Where and when she died and where she lays remains a mystery.

Sources:

About Edmonia Lewis, American Hero
Women in History