Engineering is quite the field!  There are lots of inventions that have been created by engineers.  One of the most famous is the Brooklyn Bridge!  

In the 1800s, it was unheard of for women to be in this type of work.  But that's just what Emily Warren Roebling did!

Emily was born to the Warren family in the Spring of 1843.  As the youngest of eleven children, one of Emily's first barriers in life was surviving to adulthood as most of her siblings did not.

As a child and young adult, she enjoyed horseback riding and driving  Horse Drawn carriages.  These hobbies carried her into her adult years.

Though she came from a modest family, Emily was very proud of her history.  Later in her life, Emily became a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, an organization to she joined to honor her heritage as well as make a difference in her community.

Emily was also involved in the Society of Colonial Dames, Colonial Daughters of the 17th century, Holland Dames of America, and the Huguenot Society.  Though these societies are all grounded in family heritage, Emily's interest was in preserving history as an inspiration for future generations.

Though he was her much older brother, Emily looked up to Gouverneur K. Warren.  As a Civil war hero and college-educated engineer, Governeur served as Emily's mentor and role model.

Emily was not an engineer by today's definition, but she was often described as a woman of strong character, manly intellect, and always having the desire to learn.  You see, when Emily was alive it was not considered normal for women to receive a higher education.  They were mostly seen as housewives and expected to fulfill the duties of a house wife.  

Not Emily.  With the support of her brother, a civil engineer himself, Emily enrolled in Georgetown Visitation Convent and excelled in Mathematics and Science.

After graduating, Emily married Washington Roebling, the son of America's well known bridge builder John Roebling.

A year into the marriage, tragedy struck the Roebling household.  Washington's father John was in a tragic boating accident and developed tetanus which ultimately ended his life.

It was then that Washington took over as the chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge project. Washington loved his workers and spent a lot of time on site with them.  His hard work did not benefit him, however.  Washington developed the inability to walk, partial blindness/deafness, and the frequent inability to speak due to an illness that is brought on by extreme changes in pressure.  Building the bridge made him sick!