Emily Warren Roebling
Encyclopedia
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
who was Chief Engineer during the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...
. She is best known for her contribution to the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...
after her husband developed caisson disease
Decompression sickness
Decompression sickness describes a condition arising from dissolved gases coming out of solution into bubbles inside the body on depressurization...
.
Childhood
Emily was born to Sylvanus and Phebe Warren at Cold Spring, New YorkCold Spring, New York
Cold Spring is a village located in the Town of Philipstown in Putnam County, New York. The population was 1,983 at the 2000 census. It borders the smaller village of Nelsonville...
on September 23, 1843. She was the second youngest of twelve children. Emily’s interest in pursuing education was supported by her older brother Gouverneur K. Warren
Gouverneur K. Warren
Gouverneur Kemble Warren was a civil engineer and prominent general in the Union Army during the American Civil War...
. The two siblings always held a close relationship.
The Roeblings
In 1864, during the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Emily visited her brother, then commanding the Fifth Army Corps, at his headquarters. During the visit, she became acquainted with Washington Roebling
Washington Roebling
Washington Augustus Roebling was an American civil engineer best known for his work on the Brooklyn Bridge, which was initially designed by his father John A. Roebling.-Education and military service:...
, the son of Brooklyn Bridge designer John A. Roebling
John A. Roebling
John Augustus Roebling was a German-born American civil engineer. He is famous for his wire rope suspension bridge designs, in particular, the design of the Brooklyn Bridge.-Early life:...
, who was a civil engineer serving on Gouverneur Warren's staff. Emily and Washington immediately fell in love and on January 18, 1865, the two were married.
As John Roebling was starting his work on the Brooklyn Bridge, the newlyweds went to Europe to study the use of caisson
Caisson (engineering)
In geotechnical engineering, a caisson is a retaining, watertight structure used, for example, to work on the foundations of a bridge pier, for the construction of a concrete dam, or for the repair of ships. These are constructed such that the water can be pumped out, keeping the working...
for the bridge. In November 1867, Emily gave birth to the couple's only child, John A. Roebling II
.
The Brooklyn Bridge
On their return from their European studies, Emily and Washington were greeted with a turn of fate. Washington's father died of tetanusTetanus
Tetanus is a medical condition characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. The primary symptoms are caused by tetanospasmin, a neurotoxin produced by the Gram-positive, rod-shaped, obligate anaerobic bacterium Clostridium tetani...
, and Washington immediately took charge of the Brooklyn Bridge's construction. As he immersed himself into the project, Washington developed caisson disease
Decompression sickness
Decompression sickness describes a condition arising from dissolved gases coming out of solution into bubbles inside the body on depressurization...
. The disease affected Washington so badly that he became bed ridden. It was at that point where Emily stepped in as the “first woman field engineer” and saw out the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge.
As the only person to visit her husband during his sickness, Emily was to relay information from Washington to his assistants and report the progress of work on the bridge. She developed an extensive knowledge of strength of materials
Strength of materials
In materials science, the strength of a material is its ability to withstand an applied stress without failure. The applied stress may be tensile, compressive, or shear. Strength of materials is a subject which deals with loads, deformations and the forces acting on a material. A load applied to a...
, stress analysis
Stress analysis
Stress analysis is an engineering discipline that determines the stress in materials and structures subjected to static or dynamic forces or loads. A stress analysis is required for the study and design of structures, e.g., tunnels, dams, mechanical parts, and structural frames among others, under...
, cable construction
Wire rope
thumb|Steel wire rope Wire rope is a type of rope which consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a helix. Initially wrought iron wires were used, but today steel is the main material used for wire ropes....
, and calculating catenary
Catenary
In physics and geometry, the catenary is the curve that an idealised hanging chain or cable assumes when supported at its ends and acted on only by its own weight. The curve is the graph of the hyperbolic cosine function, and has a U-like shape, superficially similar in appearance to a parabola...
curves through Washington's teachings. For the next fourteen years, Emily's dedication in aiding her husband in the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge was unyielding. She dealt with politicians, competing engineers, and all those associated with the work on the bridge to the point where people believed she was behind the bridge's design.
In 1882, her husband's position as chief engineer was in jeopardy due to his sickness. In order to allow Washington to complete the work, Emily went to gatherings of engineers and politicians to defend her husband. To the Roeblings' relief, the politicians responded well to Emily's speeches and Washington was permitted to remain Chief Engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge.
With Washington still on as Chief Engineer, the Brooklyn Bridge was finally completed in 1883. In advance of the official opening carrying a rooster as a sign of victory Emily Roebling was the first to cross the bridge by carriage. At the opening ceremony, Emily was honored in a speech by Abram Stevens Hewitt
Abram Stevens Hewitt
Abram Stevens Hewitt was a teacher, lawyer, an iron manufacturer, chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1876 to 1877, U.S. Congressman, and a mayor of New York. He was the son-in-law of Peter Cooper , an industrialist, inventor and philanthropist...
who said at the bridge was
Today the Brooklyn Bridge holds a plaque dedicating the memory of Emily, her husband, and her father-in-law.
After the Bridge
After the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge, the Roebling family moved to Trenton, New JerseyTrenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
. There, Emily participated in social organizations such as the Relief Society
Relief Society
The Relief Society is a philanthropic and educational women's organization and an official auxiliary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It was founded in 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois, USA and has approximately 6 million members in over 170 countries and territories...
during the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
and served on the Board of Lady Managers for New Jersey at the World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
. She also continued her education and received a law degree from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. Until Emily's death on February 28, 1903, she spent her remaining time with her family and kept socially and mentally active.
Further reading
- Roebling, Emily Warren "Notes on the Warren Family" in Appendix, Page 466, "The Journal of the Reverend Silas Constant" Lippincott, Philadelphia, PA 1903