Roebling, Emily (1844–1903)

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Roebling, Emily (1844–1903)

American woman who supervised the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. Name variations: Emily Warren Roebling; Mrs. Washington Roebling. Born Emily Warren in 1844 in Cold Spring, New York; died in Trenton, New Jersey, and buried in Cold Spring, New York, in 1903; daughter of Phebe (Lickley) Warren and Sylvanus Warren; married Washington Roebling (a chief engineer), on January 18, 1865, in Cold Spring, New York; children: John A. Roe bling II (b. 1867).

Met Washington Roebling (1864); New York Bridge Company established and John Roebling hired as chief engineer (1867); John Roebling died (July 6, 1869); Washington Roebling became chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge project (1869); illness of Washington Roebling (1872); Emily took crash course in engineering (1872); began to act as unofficial chief engineer for Brooklyn Bridge (1872); New York State Legislature took over Brooklyn Bridge project (1875); Tay Bridge disaster (December 1879); Emily escorted Ferdinand de Lesseps on his visit to New York (February 1880); crossed Brooklyn Bridge for the first time (spring 1880); Trustees of Brooklyn Bridge attempted to dismiss Washington Roebling (1882); defended her husband before the American Society of Civil Engineers (1882); Brooklyn Bridge opened (May 24, 1883); moved to Trenton, New Jersey (1884).

On May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was opened in a ceremony presided over by the president of the United States. It was a day of national celebration. Almost every state in the union sent a representative, and thousands of spectators crammed into specially built bleachers to witness the proceedings. Businesses in Brooklyn and New York were closed. The bridge, which had taken 13 years to build at the cost of $21 million and 20 lives, was the longest span in the world, and represented an engineering feat of monumental proportions.

For 11 of those 13 years, the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge had been supervised by Emily Roebling, wife of chief engineer Washington Roebling. Washington had inherited the project from his father John, who died of tetanus after an accident in the spring of 1869 while surveying the site. In 1872, Washington Roebling in turn became ill, and supervision of the project fell to his wife.

Born in Cold Spring, New York, in 1844, Emily Warren came from a prominent county family. Her father Sylvanus Warren was a local businessman and friend of Washington Irving, the author of Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Engineering ran in the Warren family. Emily's brother, G.K. Warren, was a general in the Union Army, had taught mathematics at the West Point Military Academy, and was passionately interested in military engineering. Notes David McCullough, "It seems his influence had much to do with her … subsequent interest in science, and botany in particular." During the latter part of the Civil War, G.K. Warren was a member of the commission assigned to examine the construction of the Union Pacific Railway and was charged with surveying the Gettysburg battlefield.

By and by it was common gossip that hers was the real mind behind the great work and that this most monumental engineering triumph of the age was actually the doing of a woman.
—David McCullough

Emily Roebling's early life seems to have been a conventional one. Her future husband had been a colonel in the Union Army, and G.K. Warren's aide de camp. The couple married on January 18, 1865, after a six-week whirlwind romance. Writing to his sister Elvira Roebling , Washington described his new wife:

She is dark brown eyed, slightly pug-nosed, lovely mouth and teeth, … and a most entertaining talker, which is a mighty good thing you know, I myself being so stupid. She is a little above medium size and has a most lovely complexion.

After the war, Washington returned to work for his father's engineering firm. He and Emily moved to the city of Brooklyn and purchased a lovely house overlooking the harbor. Brooklyn had grown into the third largest city in the United States, surpassing both Chicago and Boston in size. The only way to cross the East River to Manhattan, however, was by ferry. In winter, crossings were often suspended due to ice.

In 1867, John Roebling was hired as chief engineer by the New York Bridge Company. The company proposed to build a bridge which would link Brooklyn and Manhattan. There could be no piers or drawbridges, said a contemporary commentator, the bridge had to take "one grand flying leap from shore to shore." The plan called for a 5,989-foot suspension bridge, strung across the East River by steel cables which were to be anchored by two monumental towers. John Roebling characterized the Brooklyn Bridge as a part of "the great flow of civilization from East towards the West." The bridge was not without its detractors, however. A representative of the Standard Oil Company argued that it would divert trade to Philadelphia. Landlords were furious when both New York and Brooklyn expropriated their properties to make way for the project. Others, such as harbor pilots and sea captains, claimed the bridge would be a hazard to navigation. Several lawsuits resulted, all of which failed to halt construction.

By the time Washington Roebling became chief engineer of the project at the age of 32, the foundations of the towers were under construction. Two pneumatic caissons, like diving bells, were employed. They were made without bottoms, half the size of a city block, and compressed air was pumped into them to keep water out as workers labored inside them, excavating a portion of the floor of the East River. The men entered the caissons' atmosphere through air locks. As the workers dug, the caissons sank farther down into the river bed.

Some of the workers began to suffer from a mysterious disease. Men dropped dead on the spot. Others complained of terrible pains in their joints and of paralysis. When doctors finally diagnosed their affliction as the bends, it was too late to help. Caused by too-rapid decompression, nitrogen bubbles were released into their bloodstreams with crippling results. Washington Roebling soon fell victim to the condition. Unable to move and virtually blind, he became a bedridden invalid. The only person he was able to communicate with was his wife Emily. His condition remained a closely guarded secret.

Without any formal training, Emily Roebling undertook a crash course in variable calculus and engineering. In the beginning, she functioned as a vital link between her husband and the workers in the field. As Edward Ellis noted, "She served as an extension of his brain, and functioned as field marshall on the construction site." As time went on, however, Emily undertook ever-increasing responsibilities and was soon treated by many as the chief engineer of the project. She often inspected the bridge personally, and also attended social functions on her husband's behalf.

Emily Roebling was responsible for all of her husband's correspondence with bridge officials. It seems probable that she did more than merely transcribe his orders. As McCullough points out: "By and by it was common gossip that hers was the real mind behind the great work and that this most monumental engineering triumph of the age was actually the doing of a woman." The trustees of the project grumbled over her increasing involvement, and newspapers often commented on it. One newspaper article described her as having a "scientific bent of mind."

The master mechanic of the bridge, E.F. Farrington, was the first to cross the Brooklyn Bridge, in August 1876, riding a chair slung between the two towers. Farrington also gave a popular series of lectures to packed audiences. A reporter for the New York Star wrote, "It is whispered among the knowing ones over the river that Mr. F's manuscript is in the handwriting of a lady, whose style and calligraphy are already familiar in the office of the Brooklyn Bridge." Although there is no proof of this assertion, many people at the time believed it to be true.

Controversy between members of the Board of Trustees was frequent, and Emily often mediated disputes in order to safeguard her husband's health. When furious board members stormed into the house one day, she tactfully cautioned them not to upset her husband before they went in to see him. Washington described her role as "invaluable." "I had a strong tower

to lean upon," he said, "my wife, a woman of infinite tact and wisest counsel."

When construction officials or contractors called at the Brooklyn Heights house, Emily Roebling always exhibited a perfect command of the technical details of the project. Many contractors began to correspond with her personally. Over the years, she dealt with various scandals connected with the bridge and its suppliers. When a furor erupted in 1879 concerning the honesty of the Edge Moor Iron Company, company representatives wrote to Emily and assured her of their good intentions. No mention of her husband was made.

At various times, construction of the bridge was delayed due to lack of funds. By 1875, however, the New York State Legislature took over the project. The city of Brooklyn paid for and owned two-thirds of the bridge, while New York City footed one-third of the cost and owned a corresponding share. Thus, until its completion, the project was well funded.

But the Tay Bridge disaster of December 1879 renewed public skepticism about the bridge's safety. One of the largest and most celebrated bridges in the world, the Tay Bridge in Scotland collapsed during a gale. A train which was crossing it at the time dropped 90 feet into frigid waters, killing all 70 passengers. A board of inquiry blamed the engineer, Sir Thomas Bouch, for a poor design that did not accurately anticipate wind loads. On New Year's Day, the banner headline in the New York Herald read: "Will The Tay Disaster Be Repeated Between New York and Brooklyn?"

Emily Roebling appreciated the delicate calculations which had gone into the design of the Brooklyn Bridge. As she watched the spans progress from the window of her home, she no doubt worried whether the Tay Bridge disaster might be repeated. After all, the East River was a stormy one and, like the Firth of Tay, it was located near the sea. Nonetheless, she remained confident of the designs of her father-in-law and her husband.

The French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps arrived in New York in late February 1880. After inspection of the bridge in the company of Emily, he told reporters that he was greatly impressed. Later in the week, when he announced to the American Society of Civil Engineers that he was planning to construct a canal across Panama, Roebling was among the women present.

In the same month, the annual dinner of the alumni of the famous Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute took place. Several of the assistant engineers from the Brooklyn Bridge project were invited, and the main speaker of the evening described the bridge and its construction. As much was said about the role of Emily as that of her husband. The assistant engineers in particular idolized her. In his after-dinner remarks, an engineer proposed a special toast:

Gentleman, I know that the name of a woman should not be lightly spoken in public, but I believe you will acquit me any lack of delicacy or of reverence when I utter half articulated upon my lips, the name Mrs. Washington Roebling.

From the window of his home, Washington watched the bridge rise, year by year, brick by brick. Emily remarked later that he had not spent that much time at the window. One glance of his "practiced eye" told him if things were progressing properly. Although his eyesight improved over the years, Washington's world still remained somewhat blurry.

In the spring of 1880, when the steelbeamed floor was put into place, Emily drove to the construction site, where she met the members of the Board of Trustees. It was a crucial moment, as the bridge now spanned the East River. The group set out across wooden planks that had been erected on the steel floor. Leading the way was Emily Roebling, accompanied by the mayor of Brooklyn, William Howell. Seagulls screeched overhead, while ships steamed quietly past below. The wind tugged at the hats of guests. It was the first crossing of the Brooklyn Bridge on a roadway. When the impressed group arrived in New York, a bottle of champagne was uncorked and the assembled guests drank to Emily's health.

In 1882, when a dispute erupted among the Board of Trustees over the cost of the project, an attempt was made to unseat Washington Roebling as chief engineer. One of the few members to defend him was Seth Low. Afterwards, Emily wrote to Low from Newport:

I take the liberty of writing to express my heartfelt gratitude for your generous defense of Mr. Roebling at the last meeting of the Board of Trustees. Your words were a most agreeable surprise to us as we had understood you were working in full sympathy with the Mayors of the two cities and the Comptroller of New York…. Can you see me at your office some morning[?]

In the same year, she addressed the American Society of Civil Engineers, the first woman ever to do so. The confidence she displayed and her intimate knowledge of the details of the project greatly impressed those present. Her address in Washington's defense renewed their faith in her husband as the chief engineer.

Because Washington Roebling was too ill to attend, the Roeblings watched the opening festivities of the Brooklyn Bridge from the vantage point of their Brooklyn Heights home. After the ceremony, Emily entertained President Chester Arthur, who had once been the customs collector of New York harbor. Other dignitaries included Grover Cleveland, then governor of New York, and Franklin Edson, mayor of New York City. Washington Roebling made a brief appearance, then returned to his room.

Fighting ignorance, corruption, and the elements, all three Roeblings had built the Brooklyn Bridge. A French traveler, Paul Bourget, recorded his impressions of the colossal span:

You see great ships passing beneath it and this indisputable evidence of its height confuses the mind. But walk over it, feel the quivering of the monstrous trellis of iron and steel interwoven for the length of sixteen hundred feet at a height of one hundred and thirty feet above the water; see the trains that pass over it in both directions, and the stream of boats passing beneath your very body, while carriages come and go, and foot passengers hasten along, an eager crowd, and you will own that these people have a right to plume themselves on their audacity, on the go-ahead which has never flinched.

After the completion of the bridge, the Roeblings moved to Trenton, New Jersey. Since his health remained fragile, Washington never undertook another engineering project. Neither did his wife, which is perhaps indicative of her attitude towards the experience. Emily died at the age of 47, in 1903, and she was buried in her home town of Cold Spring. Washington lived to be 84.

A conventional woman by the standards of the day, Emily Roebling supervised the building of the Brooklyn Bridge only when her husband proved incapable of doing so. While a sense of loyalty certainly motivated her, the Roebling family also faced financial disaster had she not shouldered the burden. Throughout the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, she remained her husband's faithful confidant and companion, safeguarding his health and privacy. She played the role of emissary, diplomat, secretary, purchasing agent, spokesperson, and engineer. Without her efforts the Brooklyn Bridge might never have been completed, and the United States would have been bereft of its first monumental architectural achievement.