By Katie Vasquez
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of New York City’s most iconic landmarks, uniting the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Nearly 30,000 people and more than 103,000 cars cross the bridge every day according to the New York City Department of Transportation.
But behind its massive stone towers and steel cables is the story of a woman who helped keep the project alive: Emily Roebling was the wife of Washington Roebling, who was the builder of the Brooklyn Bridge.
He took over that role from his father, John Roebling, who conceptualized the bridge itself.
Emily attended what is now known as Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School in Washington, D.C., one of the oldest Catholic schools for girls in the original thirteen colonies.
“She was educated when she was very young, which was not the case for a lot of young women then,” Natiba Guy-Clement, Director of Special Collections at the Center for Brooklyn History, told Currents News. “So I do think a lot of that had to do with her ability to persevere.”
onstruction on the bridge began in 1869. But just a few years in, Emily’s husband became seriously ill with decompression sickness, also known as “the bends,” from working in underwater caissons, box-like structures used to create dry, safe work environments when building below a waterline.
“He was bedridden and unable to visit the construction site, relying on his wife to carry his instructions to engineers and crews working on the bridge,” Guy-Clement explained.
At just 29 years old, Emily stepped into a male-dominated field. W
omen’s roles at the time were largely limited to being homemakers and taking care of children.
“Emily Roebling had to have been a woman with a lot of perseverance to be able to have people kind of see her as an authority figure within building the bridge,” Guy-Clement told Currents News.
It took 13 years for the project to be completed, and she was one of the first to cross when it opened on May 24, 1883.
While her contributions were later acknowledged, she did not receive the full credit she deserved at the time.
Now, her name is forever etched in a cornerstone of the city.
A plaque serves as a reminder of her legacy that stands among the steel, stone, and skyline of the Big Apple.