She was born Mary Edmonia Lewis in July 1845 in Albany, New York. Lewis's father was African American while her mother was Native American, part of the Chippewa nation. Both her parents died when she was a child. Lewis and her older brother moved in with their mother’s family in Niagara Falls. Three years later, instead of continuing with house labor, Lewis's brother suggested she enroll in school. She was then accepted into Oberlin Preparatory College in Ohio. Oberlin College was one of the first higher learning institutions in the United States to admit women of different races. It was at Oberlin that Lewis became interested in sculpting and began her art carrer.After college, Lewis moved to Boston where her sculpting continued to develop. She studied under a well known sculptor Edmund Brackett. While working with Brackett in Boston, Lewis met Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, a commander during the Civil War, and created a sculpture of him.
Edmonia moved to Rome in 1865 to continue her study and practice of sculpting. During her time in Rome, Lewis mastered her practice and specialized in portrait busts. She set up her own studio and became a renown sculptor. Many have speculated that Lewis's success in Rome may have been due to her exotic appearance. People were intrigued with her East Indian resemblance and wanted to know more about her. This was quite the opposite from the attention she initially received from Americans.
Lewis eventually came back to the United States where she continued to sculpt. Her work sold for large amounts of money. In 1873 an article in the New Orleans Picayune stated, “Edmonia Lewis had snared two 50,000 dollar commissions.” Her popularity made her studio a tourist destination. Lewis sculpted many portrait busts of important figures during that time period. Her portrait busts included Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Brown, Charles Sumner, Abraham Lincoln, and Wendell Phillips. Her sculpture of Longfellow was placed at Harvard University in their Wilderner Library.
In addition to her portrait busts, Lewis was well known for her complete figure sculptures, including Hagar in the Wilderness, Hiawatha, The Marriage of Hiawatha, The Departure of Hiawatha, Madonna and Child, Forever Free, and The Death of Cleopatra (pictured at right).
