The project was funded by a North Carolina Department of Transportation grant.
When an announcement is made for the offiical unveiling we will adivse.
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"Blogging the Bog of Outer Banks Politics"
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Richard Etheridge, USLSS - Outer Banks Hero
The Richard Etheridge statute has arrived at the Town of Manteo office. We wrote about this historic addition to the Town of Manteo back in November. You can read it here. Town of Manteo Intersection.
The project was funded by a North Carolina Department of Transportation grant.
When an announcement is made for the offiical unveiling we will adivse.
The project was funded by a North Carolina Department of Transportation grant.
When an announcement is made for the offiical unveiling we will adivse.
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8 comments:
Congrats to recognizing Richard Etheridge. But when did the Department of Transportation get into the high dollar bronze statue business rather than the road business of fixing potholes and providing safe travel to Hatteras Island. If it were not in Manteo, I would have a feeling that the fiscally conservative Ray would bust "poke" NCDOT for this expenditure clewarly outside of the road business. How many local jobs were created by this sculpture? Who made the request for this expenditure, while roadways in Manteo are littered with potholes and experiencing sink holes? Come on Ray, this should have been paid for with private funding not public funding. No disrepect to Mr. Etheridge and the work of the Pea Island Station.
I don't know about this one, but I understand your concerns about public verses private funding, especially when DOT was the source. On the other hand, this guy was a former slave who fought in the Confederate army and risked his life "so that others may live" during a turbulent and racist time.
He was a public hero, not a private one. I highly recommend the book about him and his crew, "Fire on the Beach." It can get a little boring at times, but the descriptions of the early lifesaving service and shipwrecks as well as early Outer Banks "drama" - in the worst sense of the word - is very interesting indeed.
We don't know, Anon., to be honest, We are as proud of the Richard Etheridge statue as the ones of Orville & Wilbur, etc. over at the Wright Brothers Memorial (all done by the same sculpturer). NCDOT erected those too. Recognition of all that the USLSS and USCG has meant to our Outer Banks heritage is long overdue and EOD can't knock it.
Besides, isn't it Manteo's responsibility to maintain their streets, not NCDOT? Frankly, with all the political clout that exists on Roanoke Island, we wonder why all the street there aren't paved with gold. :)
Ray, it appears that you incorrectly stated that both sculptures were paid for by NC Department of Transportation. according to http://www.interior.gov/news/03_News_Releases/031217a.htm, the Wright Brothers sculpture was paid for by the NC Department of Cultural Resources' public arts program. Again, why is NCDOT paying for a sculpture regardless of who it is for? NC64 in Manteo has potholes that need fixing, the Bonner Bridge needs replacement. NCDOT should focus on transportation not sculptures during these economic times.
Thanks, perhaps I've erred. I'll check. I do know that NCDOT built the pad and erected the statutes at the Wright Bros. Memorial. I have photos of them working on it.
And, I was told by Manteo officials that a NCDOT grant had been used for the Etheridge job. More later...Thanks for poking me..
Save the date!
Saturday February 27th at 7:30 p.m. at the film theater at Roanoke Island Festival Park.
Rescue Men , a documentary about the Pea Island Lifesavers will make its world debut,
For more info about the film
http://www.rescuemenfilm.com/
Im a resident of Manteo, and the great great grandson of Capt Pat Etheridge,creed hill station. A man who also was awarded a gold lifesaving medal, and is also credited to the quote by the coast guard of "the book says weve got to go out, but it doesnt say a damn thing about having to come back".
Its sad to say but of all the people who have served in the lifesaving service none of the white ones are recognized.
Anonymous - Richard Etheridge did not fight in the Confederate Army - he fought in the Union Army. Read Fire on the Beach, and you will understand why a statue was created in his honor. We have many white heroes memorialized in America and very few blacks. But this is about an exemplary human being - not just a lifesaver or a black man. This is also about a human being who stood up for the rights of the people being abused in the Freedmen's Colony. Two of his men swam through stormy seas to save lives during the rescue of the E.S. Newman. He fought not only in the Civil War, but the battle of racism on the home front when white people burnt down the lifesaving station because a black man was running it. He kept going when all the white lifesavers quit because they didn't want to work for a black man. He never let adversity get in his way of being a man of courage and honor. He is an American hero - for all lifesavers and all people. His story helps draw attention to the heroism of all lifesavers - black and white. And, by the way, his crew didn't get the medal of honor during their lifetime. It wasn't until the 1990's that the Pea Island Lifesavers were awarded the honor - long after their death. Though white surman were awarded the honor during their lifetime. The award was for all the Pea Island Lifesavers who worked the E.S. Newman rescue. The statue stands for all of them - and those that followed over the next 67 years who had an exemplary record of saving 200 lives and losing around seven. To honor on man and his crew does not dishonor those who did not get a medal or a statue. It is to honor the courage of all heroes as well as the Pea Island folk.
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