Emily Warren Roebling

Pioneering female engineer who completed the Brooklyn Bridge against 19th-century gender norms

When chief engineer Washington Roebling fell ill during Brooklyn Bridge construction (1872), his wife Emily Warren Roebling (1843–1903) became the first female field engineer, mastering advanced mathematics and materials science. She coordinated 600+ workers for 11 years, inventing caisson health protocols after studying decompression sickness.

Her technical correspondence with suppliers and politicians preserved project continuity. The bridge's 1883 opening saw her become the first to cross it, carrying a rooster symbolizing victory. Later, she earned a NYU law degree (1899), advocating for women's education.

Historian David McCullough notes in The Great Bridge: Without Emily, the bridge might never have been finished. Her bronze plaque on the bridge immortalizes ‘Backbone of the Bridge’ – a feminist icon in STEM history.