LGBT Senior’s Remarkable Women, Untold Stories: Emily Warren Roebling’s Brooklyn Bridge

Welcome to LGBT Senior’s Remarkable Women, Untold Stories, a weekly feature bringing extraordinary women to the forefront.

Though her contributions went largely unrecognized for decades. Emily Warren Roebling played a central role in the Brooklyn Bridge’s construction.

Her father-in-law, John Roebling, designed the bridge, but he died in 1869 before construction began. Her husband, Washington Roebling, took over as chief engineer but became seriously ill from decompression sickness in 1872 and was largely bedridden for much of the project.

Emily stepped in as the primary liaison between Washington and the construction crews. She learned advanced mathematics, cable construction, and engineering principles, and effectively supervised day-to-day operations for over a decade. When the bridge opened in 1883, she was the first person to cross it — a deliberate honor recognizing her role.

So while John Roebling designed it and Washington Roebling was the engineer of record, Emily Warren Roebling was the person who made sure it actually got built.