As;we;celebrate;Black;His- tory;Month;in;February,;it;is important;to;recognize;the vast;contributions;of;African
American;artists;to;our;culture.;There;is
one;artist;in;particular;who;had;the;odds
stacked;against;her;in;so;many;ways,;yet
made an impact in American art that
cannot;be;denied.;Mary;Edmonia;Lewis
was;born;in;1844;in;upstate;New;York
near the Canadian border. Her father
was;a;Haitian;of;African;descent;and;her
mother;was;from;the;Ojibwa;(Chippe-
wa);Indian;tribe.;Edmonia;was;orphaned
of;both;parents;before;she;reached;the
tender;age;of;ten.;Having;gone;to;live
with;her;mother’s;sisters,;Lewis;learned
the crafts of the Ojibwa. Her older
brother;had;gone;to;Montana;to;become
a;gold;prospector.;His;success;provided
the;funds;for;Lewis;to;attend;college,;a
rare;thing;for;a;black;woman;in;the;mid-
1860s.;With;not;many;choices;available,
Lewis;attended;Oberlin;College;in;Ohio,
as;that;was;one;of;the;few;institutions;of
higher;learning;that;accepted;minority
women.
Lewis;studied;art;at;Oberlin;and;was
doing well until one fateful night that
changed;her;life.;She;had;a;few;college
friends;over;for;dinner;one;winter;eve-ning;and;served;them;some;spiced;cider.
Two;of;the;women;that;she;fed,;who;hap-pened;to;be;white,;later;both;became;se-verely;ill;and;it;was;determined;that;they
had been poisoned. No charges were
filed;against;Lewis,;as;the;women;recov-ered,;though;it;was;falsely;believed;by
many;in;the;town;that;she;was;guilty;of
poisoning;her;friends.;One;night,;Lewis
was walking home alone and was vi-ciously;attacked;and;beaten;by;unknown
124;January-February;2014;•;The;Artistic;Homeschooler;www.TheOldSchoolhouse.com
VIDEO: Mini feature on
Edmonia Lewis
Rising;Above
Prejudice—
Sculptor
Edmonia
Lewis
Although;there;had;been;other;women;artists;in;the;late;nineteenth;century,
few;tackled;the;demanding;avenue;of;becoming;a;sculptor.
The Death of Cleopatra
