MODERN ATHENAS Episode 20: Ida Lewis, Lighthouse Keeper / A Story of Humility and Service

MODERN ATHENAS

In this podcast, we will be discussing the book “The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter: The Remarkable True Story of American Heroine Ida Lewis,” by Lenore Skomal. Lenore tells the story of Ida Lewis, whose father was responsible for keeping the light burning in the Lime Rock Lighthouse outside of Newport, Rhode Island in the mid-1800s. When Ida was young, her father fell ill, and tending the light fell to her mother and later, to Ida. Ida was considered the bravest woman of her day, not because of her light keeping skills but because of her daring rescues at sea. Ida would see men in danger in the waters surrounding the lighthouse and immediately race for her row boat, casting off and rowing as hard as she could to reach the drowning men. Using her 5’4”, 103-pound frame, she would pull the men into her boat and then row them back to the safety of the shore. Ida’s rescues brought her unwanted fame and attention. While she met some of the biggest political and military names of her day—men who today have their own pages in history books—and was visited by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony—the leaders of the suffrage movement—Ida never appeared to enjoy the spotlight. The story of this Modern Athena would have been lost to history, or at least relegated to a footnote, if Lenore Skomal had not written this book.
INDEX
0:00 Intro and Background of the Book
1:55 Lighthouses & The Lime Rock Lighthouse
5:25 Ida and Hosea
8:57 Ida’s First Rescue
13:48 The Famous Rescue
19:19 The Famous Rescue: Publicity and Grace Darling
22:59 July 4, 1869
29:03 Ida Becomes a Newport Attraction
38:18 Ida’s Life Moves On
41:38 Ida’s Official Appointment and Last Rescue
45:15 The End of an Era
48:19 Outro and Next Episode
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