Edmonia Lewis was born (roughly around) July 4, 1844, in Greenbush, New York. There she lived with her two parents. Her Ojibwe Indian mother Catherine Mike Lewis, and her father.
Her father was known to have been one of two people. An African American writer by the name of Robert Benjamin Lewis, or an African American valet by the name of Samuel Lewis. By the time Edmonia turned nine, both of her parents had sadly died, and she became orphaned by her maternal aunts and her half-brother. Her and her brother Samuel lived in Niagara Falls, New York, where they sold Ojibwe baskets, moccasins, and embroidered blouses, to tourists in New York. By the time Edmonia was ready to enter college she was already financially stable. Her brother Samuel had made a lot of money working in California, and he was able to help pay off her college debts. So, with that in 1856, Edmonia was able to enroll in a pre-college program at the New York Central College, a Baptist abolitionist school. There she met many professors that helped her on her path as her artistic career began to develop even more. Three years later into her college year she was later interviewed and told she was “too wild” to continue school, and there was “nothing they could do with her.” Thankfully her academic record at Central College was exemplary having had classes such as Latin, French, grammar, arithmetic, drawing, composition, and declamation. Even rocky starts can lead to something good, by 1859, when Edmonia had turned about 15 years old she was able to go to Oberlin, Ohio, where she could attend Oberlin Academy Preparatory School for a full three-year course, thanks to the help of her brother Samuel and abolitionists. During her years of school, she went through hardships such as racism, overall discrimination, as well as sexism and not being able to participate in certain activities (because she was female). Which during this time was “normal” for anyone who wasn't white. She had the guide and friend Reverend John Keep, who was a member of the board and an avid abolitionist. There at school she studied art where she slowly began to master it.
During her time Edmonia also decided to change her name to Mary Edmonia Lewis. Several months after the civil war (1862), Edmonia and her two other friends, Maria Miles and Christina Ennes, all decided to go sledding during winter. During this time, they were with some men, having fun, drinking a bit, and unfortunately both of her friends got poisoned by some spiced wine that Edmonia had given them. It was so severe that Edmonia and the doctors were unsure whether or not the friends were going to make it. Thankfully days later it would become apparent that the friends would indeed survive. This was good news for Edmonia’s friends but not so great for her, after the incident new had spread around her school and people weren't happy. So much so that one day while she was walking home, she was attacked, beaten, and left for dead, and she was brutally abused. After the attack Edmonia was arrested for suspicion of being involved with the poisoning of her friends. Which lots of people were already suspecting had happened. Thankfully the Oberlin College and the first African American lawyer were there to testify for her, and due to the lack of evidence that she actually poisoned her friends she was released, and the charges were dropped. But again, unfortunately she was charged for aiding and abetting a burglary and was no longer able to graduate her last semester of college.
After college Edmonia moved to Boston in 1864, where she began to pursue her sculpting career with the help of William Llyod Garrison, he was able to get her published, and in a few years, she would become the first known black mixed sculptor. In these few years she was able to visit places such as Rome, England, Italy, and many other places around the globe. Her art was very important to her and each piece she did had a very important meaning to her. She was most famous for her works such as The Death of Cleopatra, Forever Free, and an Old Arrow-Maker and his daughter. Edmonia Lewis lived a good life and on September 17th of 1907 she died. Her works can still be found in the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Howard University Gallery of Art in Washington.
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