Fire on the Beach
Subtitle: Recovering the Lost Story of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers
Publisher: Scribner
Published: July 3, 2001
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 336
ISBN-13: 9780684873046
Subjects: American history: c 1800 to c 1900; Biography & Autobiography; Black studies; Emergency services; Maritime history; World history: c 1750 to c 1900; North Carolina; Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Histor; Pea Island; People of Color; Blacks In The U.S.; Merchant Marine; History - General History; Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General; Biography/Autobiography; Pea Island (N.C.); USA; United States - State & Local - General; Biography & Autobiography / People of Color; United States - 19th Century; African American lifeboat crew; History; Lifesaving stations; 1842-1900; African American lifeboat crew members; African Americans; Biography; Etheridge, Richard,
First sentence: Richard was the son of the slave Rachel Dough, whose gravestone lies beside his own on Roanoke Island.
Description: "Fire on the Beach tells the story of the U.S. Life-Saving Service, formed in 1871 to assure the safe passage of American and international shipping and the save lives and salvage cargo. A century ago, the adventures of the now-forgotten "surfmen" who, in crews of seven, bore the brunt of this dangerous but vital duty, filled the pages of popular reading material, from Harper's to the Baltimore Sun and New York Herald.

Station 17, located on the desolate beaches of Pea Island, North Carolina, housed one such unit, and Richard Etheridge - the only black man to lead a lifesaving crew - was its captain."--BOOK JACKET.