🪷 In honor of Women's History Month and the ongoing ✊🏿 Black History Month celebrations on campus, we present today's illustrious alumna: Mary Edmonia Lewis.✨💐💫 Mary Edmonia Lewis (also known as "Wildfire" or Edmonia Lewis) is credited with being the first woman of African American and Native American ancestry to become a professional sculptor and the first to gain global recognition. Though many personal accounts of her life are left unclear, Lewis credits her mother for sparking her interest in becoming an artist. Orphaned at five, she was raised by her Chippewa family near Niagara Falls, New York. In 1859, at age 15, Lewis enrolled in Oberlin's preparatory school. Three years later, Lewis entered the college. Despite Lewis staying with white abolitionist John Keep, racial attacks persisted during her time at Oberlin. Accused of trying to poison a classmate, she was later cleared of the charge but faced ongoing abuse. In 1862, a group of white men kidnapped, beat, and abandoned ...