17 Facts About Emma Stebbins

Emma Stebbins was an American sculptor and the first woman to receive a public art commission from New York City.

Emma Stebbins is best known for her work Angel of the Waters, the centerpiece of the Bethesda Fountain, located on the Bethesda Terrace in Central Park.

Emma Stebbins had stopped working in order to care for Cushman, until her death in 1876.

Emma Stebbins spent nearly the rest of her life writing Cushman's biography, Charlotte Cushman: Her Letters and Memories of Her Life, and died on October 25,1882, from lung disease.

Emma Stebbins was a neoclassical sculptor and made about two dozen small-scale marble statues and two public works in bronze.

Unlike the majority of her peers, Emma Stebbins enjoyed making smaller pieces and liked to do all of her carving herself.

In 1842, some of Emma Stebbins' work was featured at the National Academy of Design in New York.

Emma Stebbins was nominated to be an associate member of the group, which was open to amateurs.

However, Emma Stebbins' election was nullified after an unspecified breach in procedure.

In 1847, Emma Stebbins' submitted oil copies to be displayed at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

In 1860, Emma Stebbins completed a bust of Cushman, her lifelong partner.

Towards the end of 1861, Emma Stebbins had been commissioned to complete a bronze statue of Horace Mann.

Emma Stebbins is best known for Angel of the Waters, which sits atop Bethesda Fountain.

Rumors of nepotism surrounded the project because Emma Stebbins' brother was the chairman of Central Park's Committee on Statuary, Fountains and Architectural Structure.

Emma Stebbins was inspired by the biblical story in which an angel gives the waters of Bethesda healing powers; it is in reference to the Croton Aqueduct, which brought fresh water to the city beginning in 1842.

Much of what we know about Emma Stebbins comes from her sister, Mary Emma Stebbins Garland.

Emma Stebbins' obituary was added as a member of the LGBTQ community.