By David Wright and David Zoby 



The surfmen of the Pea Island 

 Lifesaving Station built a reputation 

 on hard work, bravery and skill. 

 Along the Outer Banks and East 

 Coast, they were a respected crew, 

 known for assisting more than 30 

 vessels in distress, rescuing more than 

 200 people and losing only seven 

 mariners. 



But the lifesavers' skill wasn't all 

 that set them apart from other surfmen 

 along the coast. The Pea Island station 

 was manned completely by blacks — 

 the country's only such station. 



Kimball, did not receive federal money 

 to build stations along the Outer Banks 

 until 1874. These first seven stations 

 were manned by a keeper and six 

 surfmen. Their orders were clear: 

 Come to the assistance of any vessels 

 or persons in need. 



Black watermen along the Outer 

 Banks enlisted in the Lifesaving 

 Service. Integrated rosters, called 

 "checkerboard" crews, were common 

 along the coast with as many as 19 

 blacks serving in North Carolina 

 stations from 1874 to 1879. Black 



Between 1876 and 1878, the 

 disasters came in quick succession. 

 Three highly publicized maritime 

 shipwrecks occurred off the Tar 

 Heel coast. More than a half million 

 dollars in property was lost. But more 

 importantly, 21 1 people died. 



Kimball turned his attention to the 

 Outer Banks to determine why people 

 were dying along an area manned by 

 lifesavers. He learned the problem ran 

 much deeper than long stretches of 

 beach and short seasons. Nepotism 

 was ruining the service. 



T • ^»The Pea Island 



Lifesavers: 



Black Surfmen 

 Remembered 



Today locals, white and black, 

 are quick to remark on the excellent 

 reputation of the lifesavers. At the 

 time the first black keeper was 

 appointed, however, the idea was not 

 wholeheartedly embraced. The first 

 all-black Pea Island crew battled 

 more than the ocean's tempests. 

 They fought amid a sea of prejudice 

 and waves of hostility in the local 

 community. 



Life on the Outer Banks in the 

 late 19th century was hard, particu- 

 larly after the devastation of the Civil 

 War. Commercial fishing was limited, 

 tourism nearly unheard of and poverty 

 as widespread as the beaches were 

 barren. As a result, everyone wanted a 

 job with the federal government. 



Ships had wrecked at alarming 

 rates off the North Carolina coast 

 since the beginning of trans-Atlantic 

 navigation. However, the U.S. 

 Lifesaving Service, which was 

 officially established in 1871 under 

 General Superintendent Sumner 



surfmen, however, served only in the 

 lowest ranking positions on the duty 

 roster and often doubled as the 

 stations' cooks. Despite their low 

 ranks, visiting Northern inspectors 

 remarked that several of the black 

 surfmen were among the best in the 

 district. 



Early service along the barrier 

 islands was fraught with difficulties. 

 With so few stations, the length of 

 patrols was often as much as 15 miles 

 — too long to be expedient in reporting 

 disasters and rendering aid. At the 

 outset, lifesavers were employed for 

 only four months of the year, Decem- 

 ber through March, after which the 

 stations were padlocked. Consequently, 

 lifesaving operations often had little 

 effect in saving lives. The situation was 

 ripe for disaster. 



During an 1875 tour of the 

 Carolina stations, government 

 inspectors found 15 surfmen, includ- 

 ing four keepers, unqualified to serve. 

 One was a blacksmith, another a 

 teacher, and neither had any knowl- 

 edge of the sea. Another had been 

 hired even though he was physically 

 unable to perform the tasks demanded 

 of a surfman. 



Kimball successfully appealed to 

 Congress in 1878 for more funds to 

 expand the number of stations in the 

 district and lengthen the active season. 

 But improvements in hiring were 

 slow. All too often, keepers and 

 crews were hired for reasons other 

 than ability. 



In the early morning of Nov. 30, 

 1879, the schooner M&E Henderson 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 3 



