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Emily Warren met
her future husband, Washington A. Roebling, when he served
on her eldest brother, General G. K. Warren's staff as an
engineering officer. Under Warren's command, Roebling built
two strategically significant suspension bridges, one at
the Rappahannock River and another on the Shenandoah River
at Harper's Ferry. He is credited with several amazing feats
during the Civil War. From a hot air balloon on a sunny late-June
morning in 1863, Roebling was the first to spy Robert E.
Lee's army heading toward Gettysburg. During the ensuing
battle, when General Warren ordered that Little Round Top
be reinforced, Roebling helped place the first cannon, which
effectively defended the site and directly contributed to
the subsequent Union victory. He was awarded three brevets
for gallant conduct and ended his military career as a Colonel.
After the war when
he and Emily married, Roebling returned to the family wire
manufacturing and bridge building business, John A. Roebling's
Sons, Co. His father, John A. Roebling, had begun the Brooklyn
Bridge project in 1869; a massive undertaking which would
not be completed for another 14 years. At his father's death,
Washington took over the business and directly supervised
construction of the underwater caissons upon which the bridge's
massive towers would be built. Because of this underwater
work, he was stricken several times with what we now know
as decompression sickness, or the bends. In 1879 he became
totally disabled from it and was no longer able to work.
By this point, the bridge was a highly charged financial
and political albatross.
To keep the wolves
at bay, to shield her husband during his illness, and to
keep the Roebling name in the forefront of this tremendously
important engineering feat, Emily Roebling stepped in and
effectively, though unofficially, became Chief Engineer of
the Brooklyn Bridge. What kind of credentials could she possibly
have to do this? She read and filed every scrap of news about
the bridge since the beginning and she worked at her husband's
side during the entire construction effort. With Emily, Washington
discussed the detailed blueprints, and with her he shared
all of his and his father's bridge building plans and dreams.
When a board of inquiry was convened by the American Society
of Civil Engineers to determine if Washington Roebling should
be removed as Chief Engineer, Emily's competence in managing
the work to that date convinced them that the Roeblings should
remain in charge.
The bridge opened
on May 24, 1883 to parades, bands, politicians, gala dinners,
a display of fourteen tons of fireworks, and a speech by
President Chester A. Arthur. It was called the "Eighth Wonder
of the World." Newspaper accounts tell us that on that day
Emily appeared beautiful and vivacious. Washington Roebling,
the Civil War hero and official Chief Engineer of the Brooklyn
Bridge, appeared pale, showed no excitement, and could stand
for only ten minutes at a time.
But Washington
Roebling recovered, although he continued to live in great
pain. In a strange twist of fate, he outlived his wife Emily
by over 20 years, and he even remarried. He was over 80 years
old when he again became president of John A. Roebling's
Sons Co; he was the only Roebling left, having outlived his
younger brothers and even their sons. At the beginning of
the 20th century, John A. Roebling's Sons was the largest
wire business in the world. The company was the major provider
of telegraph wire, balling wire, electrical wire, bridge
cable wire, wire for ships; and, it was the exclusive provider
of wire for the Panama Canal and the Otis Elevator Company.
Roebling actively, innovatively, and forcefully ran the business
until his own death in 1926.
Obviously, Washington
Roebling was an extremely energetic and intellectually charged
individual. For diversion, he directed these energies into
his lifelong hobby and passion, his rock and mineral collection.
That priceless 16,000-piece collection was eventually donated
by his son, John A. Roebling II, to the Smithsonian Institution.
It has since become the cornerstone of the Museum of Natural
History's mineral and gem collection.
Have we gone on
a little too long about engineers, the Roeblings and the
Brooklyn Bridge? Well, it's a great story. And we've done
so in honor Engineers' Week, February 18-24, 2000. Take an
engineer to dinner! Or at least have dinner ready when she
or he gets home.
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