Brooklyn Bridge - Washington & Hamilton, Central Park, Brooklyn Walking Tours https://www.revolutionarytoursnyc.com Best Walking Tours New York City, Revolutionary War, Central Park, Hamilton, Washington Thu, 01 Nov 2018 23:49:14 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 The Great Woman Behind the Brooklyn Bridge https://www.revolutionarytoursnyc.com/2018/11/01/the-great-woman-behind-the-brooklyn-bridge/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-great-woman-behind-the-brooklyn-bridge Thu, 01 Nov 2018 22:49:09 +0000 http://www.revolutionarytoursnyc.com/?p=847 Truly, much of the credit for the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge under the stewardship of Washington Roebling, goes to his wife Emily Roebling.  After his illness caused by “caisson disease” or what we now know as the bends or decompression sickness and his inability to visit the bridge, Emily learned all that she needed […]

The post The Great Woman Behind the Brooklyn Bridge first appeared on Washington & Hamilton, Central Park, Brooklyn Walking Tours.

]]> Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, Brooklyn Bridge Park Walking TourTruly, much of the credit for the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge under the stewardship of Washington Roebling, goes to his wife Emily Roebling.  After his illness caused by “caisson disease” or what we now know as the bends or decompression sickness and his inability to visit the bridge, Emily learned all that she needed about bridge construction and engineering to serve as Washington’s liaison with the assistant engineers on-site.  She explained Washington’s often complex directives and answered questions that they had.  In 1882, the year before the bridge was completed, Emily successfully defended her husband to the board of directors and politicians who wanted to strip him of his title as Chief Engineer.

There is a plaque on the Brooklyn tower of the Brooklyn Bridge dedicated to the memory of Emily Roebling “whose faith and courage helped her stricken husband…complete the construction of this bridge…Back of every great work we can find the self-sacrificing devotion of a woman”

Washington Roebling wrote: I thought I would succumb, but I had a strong tower to lean upon, my wife, a woman of infinite tact and wisest counsel.

The post The Great Woman Behind the Brooklyn Bridge first appeared on Washington & Hamilton, Central Park, Brooklyn Walking Tours.

]]> 847