Mary Edmonia Lewis known by Edmonia was the first professional African-American and Native-American sculptor, who earned praise for work that explored different themes from religious to classical. Her main focus was on all women who have struggled and suffered from her own personal experiences. She overcame many obstacles from a young child to an adult. She was born in1844 in New York and orphaned at a young age and was raised by her mother’s family. She attended Oberlin College which was a college that did a lot of work with the abolition of slavery which greatly influenced her work.
After College Edmonia moved to Boston and became friends with sculptor Edward Brackett and he taught her sculpting and encouraged her to