Risky Business: October 1878

So begins another October, arguably Brooklyn’s best month (feel free to debate me in the comments). Let’s take a moment to travel back to another Brooklyn October, back to this photographed moment in October 1878. Brooklyn was independent from New York City, no Statue of Liberty was yet visible from Brooklyn’s shores, and the only way to reach Manhattan was by boat. But this last detail was soon to change.  

John A. Roebling’s Brooklyn Bridge was eight years into construction under the direction of his son and chief engineer, Washington A. Roebling. In 1878 risk takers could (with special permission) walk the narrow wooden footbridge that spanned the completed towers, swaying precariously over the East River. Risk gripped the construction of the bridge, even for those who didn’t seek it. By the date of this photograph, both the senior and junior Misters Roebling had succumbed to bridge-induced diseases: the former fatally (death by a ferry accident that led to an amputation that led to a tetanus infection in 1869), the latter chronically (lifelong side effects of the bends beginning in 1872 and its ongoing treatments).  

Though this week's Photo of the Week entitled “Some of the Bridge-Makers on the Brooklyn Anchorage” includes only men in their top hats, derbys, and bowlers, the bridge was at this time largely under the direction of a woman: Mrs. Emily Warren Roebling. Emily took over many of the engineering responsibilities while her husband, Washington, lay bedridden. The late historian David McCullough describes Emily in his book The Great Bridge, saying:  

By and by it was common gossip that hers was the great mind behind the great work and that this, the most monumental engineering triumph of the age, was actually the doing of a woman, which as a general proposition was taken in some quarters to be both preposterous and calamitous. In truth, she had by then a thorough grasp of the engineering involved. 

Interested in seeing more photos from CBH’s collections? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images, or the digital collections portal of Brooklyn Public Library. We look forward to inviting you to CBH in the future to research in our entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections. In the meantime, please visit our resources page to search our collections. Questions? Our reference staff is available to help with your research! You can reach us at cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org.