WHEREAS, on October 11, 1896, the surfman on watch at the United States Lifesaving Service Station on Pea Island saw a distress signal from the grounded and disintegrating schooner E.S. Newman; and
WHEREAS, the all-African American crew of the Pea Island Station set off to provide assistance in the midst of a hurricane; high winds, storm surge, and heavy surf rendered all their state-of-the-art equipment useless; and
WHEREAS, the Pea Island lifesavers made nine trips through the deadly waves, two at a time, tied together and connected to land only by a single line in the hands of their comrades; the Pea Island lifesavers saved all on board; and
WHEREAS, the Pea Island lifesavers carried out many other rescues and maintained an exemplary station through the Jim Crow era, the merger of the Lifesaving Service into the U.S. Coast Guard, and two world wars; and
WHEREAS, numerous Pea Island lifesavers were Civil War veterans, community leaders and held county offices even at the height of segregation and disenfranchisement; and
WHEREAS, the Pea Island Station was an inspiration and a beacon of hope for African Americans throughout the country even after its closure in 1947; and
WHEREAS, on March 5, 1996, Keeper Richard Etheridge and surfmen Benjamin Bowser, William Irving, Theodore Meekins, Dorman Pugh, Lewis Wescott, and Stanley Wise posthumously received the Gold Lifesaving Medal for the Newman rescue; and
WHEREAS, Keeper Etheridge is buried on the grounds of the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island, the story of the Pea Island Lifesavers is integral to the interpretive mission of the Aquarium; and
WHEREAS, the Aquarium, the Pea Island lifesavers’ descendants, and the nonprofit Pea Island Preservation Society, Inc., share strong bonds of goodwill and cooperation;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, ROY COOPER, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim October 11, 2021, as “PEA ISLAND LIFESAVERS DAY” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.