The African Americans employed by the Life-Saving Service were experienced fishermen and oystermen who had lived along the Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina Coasts. They were well-trained to handle boats and were knowledgeable of surf and sea. Upon clearance from the medical surgeon, these men were issued Articles of Engagements and became paid U.S. Life-Savers.
Beginning around 1875, records show the presence of African Americans at the following Life-Saving Stations. In what is now the Fifth Coast Guard District: Portsmouth, Va.; Station 3, Green Run, James H. Shields and Alexander Ames; Station 5, Cedar Island, A. Finney; Station 7, Cobbs Island, Warner Collins. The Sixth District appeared to employ many more African Americans during the mid-1870s than did the Fifth District. Station 1, Cape Henry, George Owens, William Olds, T. Cuffey, Luther Owens, and Peter Fuller; Station 4, Jones Hill and Jerry Munden; Station 7, Nags Head, William C. Bowser, Miles Tilett and George Reed; Station 8, Bodies Island, Fields Midgett, G.W. Bowser, Robert F. Toler and the renowned Richard Etheridge; Station 16, George R. Midgett, Lewis Westcott and King Daniel. Station 25, Cape Fear, John W. Smith, Robert Smith and Gibb McDonald.
These experienced seamen cooked, patrolled the beach, and participated in various duties that became integral to their work as surfmen. A typical Life-Saving Station day included such routines as cleaning the station, patrolling the beaches, drilling in the use of life cars, practicing launching of the station’s lifeboat, practicing with the breeches buoy, throwing a line (firing the gun) to a representation of a wreck, sanding and painting the boats, traveling to pick up mail and supplies, practicing resuscitation or repairing equipment.
The primary duty of crews at Life-Saving Stations was to aid ships in distress . African Americans saved many lives and preserved property in so doing. The story of Richard Etheridge, first African American keeper of Pea Island, North Carolina Lifeboat Station, is an inspiring first chapter in the celebrated history of the lifeboat station that was built during the winter of 1878-79 and initially manned by whites. From the time of Etheridge’s assuming command in 1880, Pea Island was staffed by African Americans until the station was closed in 1947, after which the area became a wildlife refuge.
Pea Island Lifeboat Station logged numerous rescues in its annals. One of the early crewmembers of the Pea Island Station, Maxie Berry, Sr., served 25 years and retired as a chief Boatswain’s Mate. His father, Joseph H. Berry, Surfman, retired in 1917 after 15 years of service at Pea Island. Maxie Berry’s son, Maxie M. Berry, Jr., retired as a Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander on September 1, 1976, while stationed in the Office of Civil Rights at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Another son of the late Maxie Sr., Zion H. Berry, also served in the Coast Guard, to continue a remarkable tradition of over 350 years of continuous service.
RICHARD ETHERIDGE: KEEPER, PEA ISLAND LIFE-SAVING STATION
The majority of published information on the Life-Saving Service celebrates the accomplishments of the all-African American crew at Pea Island Life-Saving Station in North Carolina. In 1879, Charles F. Shoemaker, Assistant Inspector of the Life-Saving Service, recommended Richard Etheridge to assume keepership at Pea Island, following the discharge of the previous keeper and surfman, whose failures in performance of duty resulted in unnecessary loss of life after the wreck of the Henderson. Shoemaker’s letter of recommendation to Summer I. Kimball, then General Superintendent of the Life-Saving Service, read, in part:
I examined this man, and found him to be 38 years of age, strong, robust physique, intelligent and able to read and write. He is reputed one of the best surfmen on this part of the coast of North Carolina.
Shoemaker recommended that Etheridge select a crew of African Americans, two from stations No. 10, two already at Pea Island (W.B. Daniels and W.R. Davis) and two others of Etheridge’s choosing. Adding that he was "aware that no colored man holds the position of Keeper in the Life-Saving Service," Shoemaker explained that Etheridge was such an excellent surfman that "the efficiency of the Service at [Pea Island the station will be greatly enhanced." Frank Newcomb, Assistant Inspector of the Life-Saving Service, also recommended Etheridge to Kimball. Shoemaker endorsed Newcomb’s letter, which included the comment that Etheridge "had the reputation of being as good a surfman as there is on this coast, Black or White."
Appointed Keeper of Pea Island Life-Saving Station on January 24, 1880, Richard Etheridge became the first African American keeper in the Service. He was born in 1842 and raised near Pea Island, where he became an expert fisherman and surfman. Soon after Etheridge’s appointment, the station burned down. Determined to execute his duties with expert commitment, Etheridge supervised the construction of a new station on the original site. He also developed rigorous lifesaving drills that enabled his crew to tackle all lifesaving tasks. His station earned the reputation of "one of the tautest on the Carolina Coast," with its keeper well-known as one of the most courageous and ingenious lifesavers in the Service.
On October 11, 1896, Etheridge’s rigorous training drills proved invaluable. The three-masted schooner, the E. S. Newman, was caught in a terrifying storm. En route from Providence, Rhode Island to Norfolk, Virginia, the vessel was blown south, 100 miles off course, and slammed onto the beach two miles south of the Pea Island Station. The storm was so severe that Etheridge had suspended normal beach patrol that day. But the alert eyes of surfman Theodore Meekins saw the first distress flare and Meekins immediately notified Etheridge.
The crew was rounded up and launched the surfboat. Battling the strong tide and sweeping currents, the dedicated lifesavers struggled to make their way to a point opposite the schooner, only to find there was no dry land. The daring, quick-witted Etheridge tied two of his strongest surfmen together and connected them to shore by a long line. They fought their way through the roaring breaks and finally reached the schooner. The seemingly inexhaustible Pea Island crewmembers journeyed through the perilous waters ten times and rescued every one of the nine persons on board. For this action the Pea Island Life-Saving Station was awarded the Gold Life-Saving Medal. On February 29, 1992, the Coast Guard Cutter Pea Island was commissioned at Norfolk, Virginia, in memory of the African American crews at Pea Island, including Richard Etheridge and his lifesavers.
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