Bridge builder among graduates of Catholic schools

Published: 2005-01-26

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Many successful men and women of yesteryear and today have been influenced by a Catholic school education in the Archdiocese of Washington, and graduates of those schools can count a bridge builder among their ranks. Emily Roebling, an 1860 graduate of Georgetown Visitation in Washington, was instrumental in the building of New York's Brooklyn Bridge, which was constructed between 1870 and 1883. High above the East River, a bronze plaque hanging on one of the bridge's granite towers is dedicated to Roebling. While at Georgetown Visitation, she took classes in math and science. She married Washington Roebling, whose father, John, was a famous bridge designer in the mid-19th century. He was named engineer in the building of the Brooklyn Bridge but died of tetanus before construction even began. His son, Washington, took over the project but three years later he fell ill and was rendered partially paralyzed. While her husband remained chief engineer, it was Emily, then 30, who visited the building site daily to supervise the work.

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