Ida Lewis | Ida Lewis: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
On February 25, Google has decided to honor the person who was once referred to as “The Bravest Woman in America.” The doodle shows Rhode Island lighthouse keeper Ida Lewis and her incredible rescue of two soldiers whose boat had capsized. The pair were close to Lewis’s lighthouse in Newport harbor, about 30 miles south of Providence. The title of “The Bravest Woman in America” was bestowed upon her by the Society of the American Cross of Honor.
For her efforts, Lewis was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal by President Ulysses S. Grant. The blog on the doodle pays tribute to Lewis’s “unwavering courage, sheer physical strength, constant diligence, and a willingness to put one’s own life on the line.” The doodle appears on what would have been Lewis’s 175th birthday.
Here’s what you need to know:
Lewis born Idawally Zorada Lewis in 1842. Throughout her rescuing career as a lighthouse keeper, Lewis is credited with saving somewhere between 13 and 25 people. Those included servicemen who stationed at the nearby Fort Adams in Newport, Rhode Island.
Her family had taken control of the Lime Rock lighthouse in 1853. Her father, Captain Hosea Lewis, suffered a paralytic stroke just six months into the tenure. As a result, Lewis’s mother, Zorada, took over the running of the lighthouse. By 1879, Lewis was appointed as the keeper of the lighthouse after being trained under her mother.
