Blue Plaque for Edmonia Lewis Unveiled on Blythe Road

---

Internationally renowned sculptor was a pioneer in the 19th Century arts world

The Nubian Jak Community Trust, Cllr Daryl Brown and local residents at the unveiling of Edmonia Lewis’ plaque

One of the first black professional sculptors, Edmonia Lewis (1844-1907), has been honoured with a blue plaque at her former Hammersmith home.

The plaque, installed by the Nubian Jak Community Trust, was unveiled Monday 22 August at 154 Blythe Road.

Born in New York while slavery was still legal, Edmonia, known as Wildfire, was a free black woman. She had an African American father and a Native American mother belonging to the Chippewa tribe.

Losing both her parents at a young age, Edmonia’s brother funded her college education at Oberlin College in 1859, a rare opportunity for a woman in the 1800s, especially one of a minority ethnic background.

Unlike white male sculptors, she was not allowed to attend anatomy classes and instead perfected her craft without the access to the training her peers were granted.

Edmonia’s early work focused heavily on sculpting abolitionists, including a hugely successful bust for Colonel Robert Gould Shaw.

The money she earnt from this success allowed her to travel to Rome to study classical sculpture before travelling through Italy, France and the United States.

It was in Rome that she found further fame with her sculpture The Death of Cleopatra whose imagery shocked critics.

In 1901, after living and working for five years in Paris, she moved to London and lived out the rest of her life at 156 Blythe Road.

The plaque inscription is: Edmonia 'Wildfire' Lewis, 1844-1907, lived and died here. African American sculptor famed for her work relating to black and indigenous people in a neo-classical style Internationally renowned.

Cllr Daryl Brown (right), Deputy Mayor of H&F, and Judith Webster (left) unveil Edmonia Lewis’ blue plaque

“I’m delighted that we, in partnership with the Nubian Jak Community Trust, are honouring Edmonia Lewis with this commemorative plaque,” said Cllr Sharon Holder, Cabinet Member for Public Realm.

“Our commitment to recognising, remembering, and celebrating the important figures in our borough’s history and our black and multi-cultural heritage is one of the ways we’re becoming a stronger, safer, kinder borough.”

Edmonia Lewis’ blue plaque is just one of the many that celebrate individuals in the areas history. Recent blue plaques include:

Ellen and William Craft
Esther Bruce
Fela Kuti
Connie Mark
Peckings Records.

Value Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.

August 26, 2022