Black History Month - Honoring the Lifesavers of Pea Island, NC

Regs say we got to go out. Don't say nothin' about us coming back.

These words were the informal motto of America's storm warriors, the US Life-saving Service (USLSS), whose men rowed out from US shorelines during violent weather to pluck sailors and passengers from damaged and sinking ships. Although the need for shore-based rescue was recognized before the Civil War and the Federal Government provided funding in 1848, it was 30 years later, in 1878, that the service was formally established. The heroics of the surfmen appeared regularly in the newspapers and popular magazines of the time. In 1915, the USLSS and the US Revenue Cutter System merged to form the current US Coast Guard.

For many months, I've been researching the history of the stations and rescues for a new historical romance series "The Lifesavers", and I came across the story of the Pea Island Station on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Although there were only eight (8) African-American surfmen in the USLSS, the best of these, Richard Etheridge, took command of Pea Island in 1880. Under racial standards of the time, only African-Americans would be permitted to serve under him. An all-African-American crew served at the station until it closed in 1947.

A second all-African-American station was later organized at Tiana Beach, New York, but Pea Island was the first and set a high standard for the entire USLSS.

The history of the station is now available in a documentary film. Check out the trailer!

    

Read more about my progress on "The Lifesavers" series.