Long before women could vote, much less hold down “a man’s job,” Ida Lewis was called “the bravest woman in America.” The reason: As the official keeper of the Lime Rock Light Station on a tiny island off Newport, RI, she managed to save 18 people from drowning.
Lewis took over the Light Station when her father, who had been the keeper, died in 1872. After she started saving people by herself, Lewis became a 19th century celebrity: She was on the cover of Harper’s Weekly; President U.S. Grant visited her when he was in Newport. Lewis kept the job until she died at the age of 69 – of a stroke while she was on duty.
To celebrate her 175th birthday recently, Google created an animated slideshow of her rescues, and USA Today ran this story: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/02/25/who-bravest-woman-america-ida-lewis/98400206/
