Ida Lewis: The Legendary Lady Light Keeper of Lime Rock / Kingston Free Library 

Wednesday, October 25, 6:00 PM

Join us at the Kingston Free Library as local author and historian, Brian L. Wallin, visits to give a presentation about Ida Lewis.

Ida Lewis was only 11 years old when her father Hosea was appointed keeper of Newport’s Lime Rock Lighthouse in 1853. Four years later, he suffered a debilitating stroke and his teenaged daughter began assisting her mother in tending the light that marked the often stormy harbor. As a young woman, she gained worldwide fame in the late 19th and early 20^th century for saving the lives of numerous individuals from the turbulent waters surrounding the light station. Ida devoted her life to her work, spending some six decades at the light. Following the death of her parents, first her father and then her mother, she was appointed keeper in 1879 at the annual salary of $750 making her the highest paid light tender in the country. Ever modest of her achievements, she remained devoted to her duties until her death in 1911. She is buried in Newport’s Common Ground Cemetery. Lime Rock was later renamed in her honor and a yacht club on the site bears her name. The first of a new class of US Coast Guard buoy tenders, now stationed in Newport, also bears her name. This richly illustrated lecture portrays one of the most famous women of the 19^th century and highlights the role other women played in the care of lighthouses across the country.

Presenter, Brian L. Wallin, is a graduate of Stonehill College and earned his master’s degree from American International College. He spent the first half of his career as a radio-television reporter-anchor in New England, then turned to health care administration, serving in many executive positions. He is a recognized author and historian and a frequent lecturer throughout the state. 

To register, please contact Britta at bobertello@southkingstownri.gov or 783-8254 ext. 4303.