HAGAR By Edmonia Lewis
Today we present the work of Edmonia Lewis. She was the first professional African American sculptor, born in Ohio or New York in 1843 or 1845. Her father was a free African American and her mother a Chippewa Indian. From the beginning, she was determined to become a sculptor. With a minimum of training, exposure, and experience, Lewis began producing medallion portraits of well-known abolitionists, such as William Lloyd Garrison, Charles Sumner, and Wendell Phillips. With sales of her portrait busts of abolitionist John Brown and Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the Boston hero and white leader of the celebrated African American 54th Regiment of the Civil War, Lewis was able to finance her first trip to Europe in 1865. She traveled to London, Paris, and Florence, and decided to settle in Rome for two years. There, she became involved with a group of American women sculptors and began to work in marble.
