Richard Etheridge was the first African American to command a lifesaving station in the United States. Lifesaving stations on the Atlantic Coast were responsible for rescuing people from shipwrecks in the late 1800s. Etheridge also fought for the Union in the Civil War and continued to fight for civil rights for the African American community on Roanoke Island. To this day, however, his achievements are not widely known.
Etheridge was born into slavery on Roanoke Island, January 16, 1842. Historians believe Etheridge may have been the son of his owner, and as a result his childhood differed from that of most enslaved people. He was raised in the Etheridge household and was taught to read and write. Furthermore, he also learned fishing, piloting boats, combing the beach for the refuse of wrecks, and working the sea.[1]
When Etheridge was 19, the Civil War reached his hometown with the Union Army capturing Roanoke Island in 1862. The following year, Etheridge, along with over five thousand African American North Carolinians, joined the Union Army. Initially, he served in the 2nd North Carolina Infantry where he rose to sergeant and was paid $13 a month (the same amount a white private was making).[2]
In 1863, Etheridge saw his first combat when he assisted with rooting out guerilla groups that supported the Confederate cause, like the Partisan Rangers in North Carolina’s Camden and Pasquotank counties. His company was sent to recruit freed slaves in the area and was ambushed by a guerilla group. Etheridge and the other men successfully repelled the ambush, with only three men lost. In late 1863, he was assigned to the 36th United States Colored Troops. Etheridge gained further combat experience that year at the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm in Virginia, which helped lead to the capture of Richmond.[3]
After the Civil War
Following the Civil War, Etheridge still had a year on his contract and was sent to Texas to fight in the American Indian Wars. During this there were significant instances of abuse against African American soldiers and their families. They included unpaid wages and failure to supply provisions to the soldiers’ families on Roanoke Island. Etheridge acted, writing a letter to his general asking for these conditions to change. Then in October 1866, after his contract ended, he mustered out, heading home to the Outer Banks.[4]
On the Outer Banks, he made a living fishing and began serving in the new Lifesaving Service at Oregon Inlet in 1875. This station was one of the first seven lifesaving stations that operated in North Carolina.[5]
At its peak, the United States Life Saving Service had between 280 and 300 lifesaving stations along both coasts. They were the first attempt to have paid and trained onshore lifesavers. Prior to these stations, only lighthouses and untrained locals were expected to help ships. North Carolina received funding from Congress to station surfboats at Bodie Island, Ocracoke, and Wilmington in 1852. However, it was not until 1874 that the first stations with a paid crew were opened in North Carolina. The first seven stations in NC were located at Jones Hill, Caffeys Inlet, Kitty Hawk, Nags Head, Oregon Inlet, Chicamacomico, and Little Kinnakeet.[6] Because the overall population was low and African Americans represented a significant proportion, many of these stations were made up of both African American and white crews and were called “checkerboard crews.” Unlike the nature of a checkerboard, however, these crews typically saw African Americans placed at the bottom of the hierarchy regardless. Etheridge was no exception to this treatment.[7]
Life as a Lifesaver
When Etheridge served at Oregon Inlet and later Bodie Island, he was regularly placed near the bottom as either fifth or sixth surfman. Etheridge, along with most of the African Americans hired for lifesaving were high quality surfmen; however, the politics of the area limited their promotions at first. Their white counterparts typically had no knowledge of the tides. This plus underequipped stations gave the lifesaving stations a poor reputation early on. In response, Congress commissioned eleven new stations but did not fix the staffing issue.[8]
On November 30, 1879, it became clear that something had to change. Four lives were lost off the coast of Pea Island, from the wreck of the schooner M&E Henderson because the lifesaving crew had failed to see the wreck. Investigators found no reason that the schooner was not spotted that night. They found that this problem was not unique, as deeper investigation showed the station as a whole was poorly run. The investigating body recommended a change of staff, and leadership and recommended Etheridge be appointed keeper.[9]
In February 1880, Etheridge assumed the duties of keeper of the station. While this moment is viewed as a civil rights victory today, it was not viewed that way by the white surfmen at the time. Both the white surfmen on the crew he was leaving and the whites on the crew he was inheriting were resentful. Immediately after Etheridge took over, the Pea Island white crew prepared for departure. In response, an all-African American crew was appointed.[10]
Etheridge utilized his military experience when running the Pea Island lifesaving unit. He knew the outside pressure was there and made sure to run the station to the highest standard. This included keeping detailed reports of inventory, weather conditions, surf, ships sighted, and patrols. Furthermore, the crew was well trained and knew all procedures and the station was well kept. This training and consistency paid off on the night of October11, 1896.[11]
The E.S. Newman was travelling along the coast when it got caught in a hurricane. The hurricane had caused the ship to run aground, forced Etheridge to cancel patrols, and reduced visibility. Even with all this stacked against the Newman, Theodore Meekins, one of the lifesavers, saw one of the two distress signals the ship lit. The lifesaving crew quickly made their way two miles down the coast and fired a signal flare letting the ship know they were coming. Once they made it into the range of the lifesaving equipment, they quickly realized the equipment was useless. Etheridge devised another plan. He asked for volunteers to swim out to the wreck with a line. From there they transported everyone one-by-one to safety. Etheridge’s rigorous training paid off and saved the lives of the Newman crew. He remained keeper of Pea Island until he died in 1900.[12]
Until the 1990s, little was known about Richard Etheridge or any of the crew at Pea Island Lifesaving Station. Today’s efforts to preserve Etheridge’s history and the life saving station have been made along the Outer Banks. In Manteo, a statue of Etheridge was unveiled in 2010, and the Chicamcomico Historical Association has made efforts to preserve the history of North Carolina lifesaving efforts. In 1996 Richard Etheridge received the Gold Lifesaving Medal; however, Etheridge never received any awards for his lifesaving efforts while he was alive.
Notes
[1] David Wright and David Zoby, “Ignoring Jim Crow: The Turbulent Appointment of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers,” The Journal of Negro History 80, no. 2 (1995): 66–80, https://doi.org/10.2307/2717753, pg. 70-71.
[2] David Wright and David Zoby, Fire on the Beach: Recovering the Lost Story of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers (New York: Scribner, 2000), pgs. 53-61
[3] Wright and Zoby, Fire on the Beach, pgs. 65-73 and Bridgette A. Lacy, “First Wave: Richard Etheridge and His Crew of Black ‘Surfmen’ Prove Themselves on a Heroic Night,” African American Experience of Northeast North Carolina, NC Black Heritage Tour, https://ncblackheritagetour.com/first-wave-richard-etheridge-and-his-crew-of-black-surfmen-prove-themselves-on-a-heroic-night/
[4] Wright and Zoby, ”Ignoring Jim Crow: The Turbulent Appointment of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers, pgs. 71-72
[5] Wright and Zoby, ”Ignoring Jim Crow: The Turbulent Appointment of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers, pg. 72
[6] Wright and Zoby, Fire on the Beach, pg. 137 and Kim Grizzard, “North Carolina Life-Saving Stations,” Our State, https://www.ourstate.com/north-carolina-life-saving-stations/
[7] Wright and Zoby, Fire on the Beach, pg. 138
[8] Wright and Zoby, ”Ignoring Jim Crow: The Turbulent Appointment of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers, pg. 68-69 and Wright and Zoby, Fire on the Beach, pg. 159.
[9] Wright and Zoby, Fire on the Beach, pgs. 163-166
[10] Wright and Zoby, ”Ignoring Jim Crow: The Turbulent Appointment of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers, pg. 72
[11] Wright and Zoby, ”Ignoring Jim Crow: The Turbulent Appointment of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers, pg. 74 and Brad Campbell, “Rescuing History,” Our State, https://www.ourstate.com/rescuing-history/
[12] Wright and Zoby, ”Ignoring Jim Crow: The Turbulent Appointment of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers, pg. 75-77.