Sophia Hylen
Ms. Todesco
History 1
April 16, 2024
Emily Roebling Bridge
Emily Warren Roebling was married to Washington Roebling in 1865. In 1869
Washington took over the responsibilities of his father, who was chief engineer of the Brooklyn
Bridge and died early on in the project. Unfortunately, early in Washington’s tenure as chief
engineer he fell extremely ill becoming terminally bedridden. As a result, Emily stepped in and
took over his responsibilities, working as a liaison between her husband and the project while
also making many of the day-to-day operational decisions. During the late 1800’s it was not
normal for the wife to take over the husband's job. Emily would have been removed from the
project if people realized how involved she was in the decision making. Emily successfully
persuaded the people, who wanted to remove her husband as chief engineer, that he was still
capable of managing the project. From those closely linked to the building of the bridge, she
was quietly credited with the creation of the Brooklyn bridge and rewarded by riding in the first
carriage across the bridge from the Brooklyn side. After the bridge was built and her husband’s
health improved, she received a certificate in business law from New York University, which at
the time didn't accept women into their law school. Throughout Emily's life she blazed a trail
outside the traditional female employment stereotypes of the 19th century. Because Emily
Warren Roebling was a woman working in construction who sought a higher education during
the 1800s, it was difficult to acknowledge her contributions and as a result, she was overlooked.
The traditional thinking of the 1800s, was for women to be home makers and
stay-at-home mothers and not pursue "masculine" careers or engage in manly activities, resulting
in a great deal of prejudice towards women who deviated from this expectation. It was deemed
socially inappropriate and wrong for women to do any type of heavy labor. Women who did
heavy labor were frequently excluded from official documents or only mentioned by their gender
without giving their full name or job title for this reason (Winke). This was very unfair because it
didn't acknowledge the women as part of the crew or give them credit for their contributions.
Gender stereotyping became widely accepted of how things truly are and should be. The
stereotype was that a real man led a more public life and was more assertive, competitive, strong,
logical and should always want success and to move higher in the social hierarchy. However, the
stereotype for a real woman was someone who was kind, gentle, led a more private life and
always listened to her husband (“The emergence of “Women’s Sphere”’). This confined women
to the small limits society set and prevented them from seeking higher education and going into
more male-dominated work fields. This stereotype was one of the biggest challenges Emliy faced
while working on the Brooklyn Bridge because so many people were determined to remove her
from the project for being a woman.
During the 19th century, women working in construction faced many challenges as a
result of working in a male dominated field. Most men were traditionally minded and believed
that women belonged in the home and not at the job site. As a result, it was not uncommon for
women to be belittled, harassed and reprimanded by their male counterparts. The men refused
to teach the women and criticized their work unfairly. If that wasn't hard enough, the women
were judged and insulted by the wives of their coworkers (McEvoy). In addition, women in the
construction field were paid half of their male coworkers. Lastly, women were rarely recorded
as part of the working crew (McEvoy). The gender inequality within the construction field creat
This is totally unfair because the few women were just as much a part of the work crew
as the men. Although, they would be paid less and not given credit, which shows the sexism that
was present in the 1800s. Emily Roebling was a woman working in the construction field and
faced many of these challenges and it led to her accomplishment being overlooked and the credit
being given to her husband.
In the 1800s women’s work was untrusted because at that time it was not normal for
women to receive a higher education or go to a university, many universities did not even accept
women due to the idea women weren't supposed to need a higher education. There was an
assumption that women didn't need to go to school to have a role accepted in society such as
being a mom, a cleaner, etc. Gender stereotypes, therefore, successfully prevented women from
seeking higher education for generations (Carlton). This contributed to the stereotype that
women were less intelligent than men and contributed to women not being in many fields such as
construction, medicine, etc. In 1873, New York University admitted only three women and their
School of Law program only started admitting women in 1890 (Reynolds). Emily Roebling got
her degree for law in 1899 and was one of the few female students who was ever accepted into
NYU’s law school during the 1800s. The admitting rate was so low, yet Emily still accomplished
it, which took a big step forward for women being allowed into universities. She defied the
stereotype of how women shouldnt be allowed into universities and led the way for women being
admitted into them.
What initially led me to pick Emily Roebling as my overlooked person was how smart
and courageous she was. Her father in-law died during his time of being chief engineer - do to an
accident while constructing the bridge, her husband became very ill within the first week of
being chief engineer and instead of backing down to the task (which would be the easier and less
frightening thing to do) Emily took over the responsibilities of chief engineer all the while giving
the credit to her husband to preserve her family's name. Reading about her inspired me and
motivated me to work hard for what I want. I thought it was also very inspiring and selfless of
her how she gave the credit to her husband because she knew that they would discredit the
project and kick her family off of it if she officially took the role of being chief engineer. She
also was confident and smart. She loved to learn and even after the Brooklyn Bridge was
finished she continued to receive education, getting her law degree at NYU in 1899. She fought
for women's rights and didn't just say things, she did things. For those reasons, I am inspired by
Emily Roebling and look up to her - that is why I chose her as my overlooked candidate.
Works Cited
Carlton, Genevieve. “A History of Women in Higher Education.” Best Colleges, Best Colleges
News, 2023,
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“Emily Roebling, engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge.” Hidden Voices, NYC Public Schools, 2022,
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%20continue%20with%20our,World%2C%22%20the%20Brooklyn%20Bridge. 17, April,
2024.
McEvoy, Annie. “The history of women in the construction industry, and how far they have
come.” New England Real Estate Journal, New England Real Estate Journal, 2017,
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Reynolds, Eileen. “For Women's History Month, a Look at NYU's Past.” NYU, New York
University, 2017,
[Link]
17, April, 2024.
“The emergence of “Women’s Sphere.’” U.S. History, U.S. History, 2022,
[Link] 6, April, 2024.
Winke, Rebecca. “History of Women in Construction.” Family Handyman, Family Handyman,
2023,
[Link]
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