Lewis (Edmonia) is born in Rensselaer, New York.

(ca.) The daughter of a West Indian father and Chippewa mother, Edmonia Lewis is orphaned, raised by an aunt, and supported by her brother, who made a fortune in the California Gold Rush. She attends Oberlin College, comes to Boston in 1863, and studies under Edward Augustus Brackett, and subsequently maintains a studio at 104 Tremont Street. Lewis begins creating busts on commissions from a number of abolitionists that are first exhibited in 1864.* She moves to Europe, maintains a studio in Rome, and becomes the first internationally-recognized African American and Native American woman sculptor. The New York Times later writes, The land of liberty had no room for a colored sculptor.” Lewis returns to the U.S. and Boston periodically. She dies in London on September 17, 1907, and is buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery.