# @oberlincollege on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C4Uj5BYIPW9
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/26215734-oberlincollege-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/0591f4e066.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-03-10T05:02:01.000+00:00

## Caption

🪷 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 her in a field due to the false accusation. She was not allowed to enroll for her final semester and was forced to leave Oberlin in 1863. The following year Lewis relocated to Boston and began a career as a sculptor, drawing inspiration from the lives of abolitionists and Civil War heroes such as William Lloyd Garrison, Charles Sumner, and Wendell Phillips. Her popularity grew in Rome, where she spent most of her adult career.

Lewis's artwork is now on display in several prestigious American museums, such as the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and Oberlin’s Allen Memorial Art Museum. In 2022, Oberlin awarded Lewis her diploma of the Ladies Course; the Edmonia Lewis United States postal stamp was issued that same year.

Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery (NPG.94.95)
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#womenshistorymonth #bhm #oberlinalumni #oberlin #oberlincollege #oberlinohio #blackhistorymonth #highered

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## Credits

| Name | Username | Profile | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| oberlincollege | @oberlincollege | https://gondola.cc/oberlincollege | University |
| Dae Williams | @daeqwill | https://gondola.cc/daeqwill | Copywriter |
| Dae Williams | @daeqwill | https://gondola.cc/daeqwill | Social Media Strategist |

## Tags

oberlincollege, highered, bhm, oberlinalumni, womenshistorymonth, blackhistorymonth, oberlinohio, oberlin

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