A Black crew on North Carolina’s Outer Banks pulled off an 1896 storm rescue so daring it helped reshape lifesaving history, and then vanished from memory
A forgotten chapter of American heroism has resurfaced, detailing an extraordinary 1896 water rescue by an all-Black crew of surfmen on North Carolina's Outer Banks. Facing a brutal hurricane and lacking standard equipment, these men, led by former enslaved person Richard Etheridge, risked their lives using rowboats and ropes to save an entire ship's crew.
A forgotten chapter of American heroism has resurfaced, detailing an extraordinary 1896 water rescue by an all-Black crew of surfmen on North Carolina's Outer Banks. Facing a brutal hurricane and lacking standard equipment, these men, led by former enslaved person Richard Etheridge, risked their lives using rowboats and ropes to save an entire ship's crew.
