The extraordinary lives of America's 'bravest women'
After years of obscurity, the stories of women lighthouse keepers have come out of the shadows.
Two soldiers clung to their overturned boat, roiled by the frigid waters of Rhode Island’s Newport harbor. It was March 1869, and rough weather had turned a pleasure expedition into a perilous disaster. The vessel’s owner had already drowned, and the two men, who were headed back to nearby Fort Adams after a leave, were likely next.
But help was on the way in the form of 27-year-old Idawalley Zoradia Lewis. Expertly rowing her wooden skiff, she sighted the men through the New England spring squalls and hauled them into the safety of her boat. It was all in a day’s work for “Ida”, who saved the lives of up to 25 people during her 54-year tenure as a lighthouse keeper
