Wednesday Wisdom

Harper’s Magazine was a literary and cultural magazine started in 1850 by the Harper and Brothers publishing company of New York. It was renowned for its essays, journalism, fiction and commentary on politics and still exists today as publishing behemoth Harper Collins. The magazine gained prominence by publishing notable authors of the day including Mark Twain, Heman Melville and Henry James to mention a few. In 1857, Harper’s and Brothers publishing expanded their business by launching Harper’s Weekly. The weekly magazine focused more on news and national affairs, often featuring prominent Americans at a time when the country was deeply divided during the Antebellum (before the war) period.

On July 4, 1869, Newport RI celebrated Independence Day with their annual ritual of a parade, a festival and reading of the Declaration of Independence on the steps of the statehouse in Washington square. During the Independence Day celebrations, a young local woman named Ida Lewis (Idawalley Zorada Lewis) was honored by the citizens of Newport for her work in operating the Lime Rock lighthouse and as well as her bravery at sea. A beautiful new rowboat was crafted for her, and a grand presentation took place in Washington Square where they ceremoniously christened her new vessel, the “Rescue”.

Pressed into service

In 1857, just a few months after Lewis’s family took up residence offshore at the Lime Rock Light, her father, the official keeper, suffered a stroke, rendering him unable to perform his duties. Fif­teen year-old Ida assumed his tasks, manning the light, recording boat sightings, and pulling people from the sea. In the fall of 1858, four men cap­sized their small sailboat near Lime Rock, about 600 feet from shore. After watching the foursome’s fu­tile struggle to right their craft, she launched her rowboat and pulled them from the water. In 1866, a trio of soldiers from Fort Adams, reportedly under the influence, went for a ride in a skiff. One fatefully put his foot through a bottom plank and in short order the three found themselves awash, pan­icked and struggling to stay alive in the freezing water. These are just a few examples of Ida’s lifesaving efforts across Newport harbor and Narragansett bay during all seasons and weather.

Making of a heroine and social influencer

At 27, Lewis was already a local legend. She received a medal from the Lifesaving Benevolent Association of New York and the Rhode Island General Assembly adopted a resolution in her honor. Ida Lewis went from local legend to became America’s darling when she was featured on the cover of Harper’s Weekly on July 31, 1869. Dubbed “The Her­oine of Newport,” Lewis had been keeping watch over local waters for more than 10 years when she skyrocketed to national promi­nence after tales of her rescues were detailed in Haper’s Weekly. The article highlighted her stoic virtues* of modesty, courage, commitment and being duty driven she simply responded when asked why “I had to do it”. She showed no interest in fame or reward yet over 300,000 copies of the magazine were sold making her a household name and a national treasure.

The following month, President Ulysses Grant paid a visit to New­port. Reportedly, he wanted to visit her at her home, but Lewis rowed Rescue across the harbor to Long Wharf as the presidential party arrived to head across the bay. On being introduced, the president said, “I am happy to meet you, Miss Lewis, as one of the heroic, noble women of the age. I regret that my engagements have been such as not to allow me to call on you at your home, but I hope to see you in Washington.” She declined the invitation to Washington DC as well many opportunities for paid appearances and proposals for marriage.

Following the publication and Grant’s visit, the rich and famous came to visit her at Lime Rock, including women’s activist Susan B. Anthony and the Civil War general, William Tecumseh Sherman. Her portrait on the magazine wearing a fichu scarf started a fashion craze of a forgotten style. The fichu is a traditional French scarf style, originally worn in the 1700s by women across social classes.

That same year, with her fame spreading across the nation, Lewis married Capt. William Heard Wilson. The marriage lasted only two years which was no surprise to many, for it had been said her only true love was Lime Rock in Newport Harbor.

Over the next 22 years, she would save 18 lives. Lewis is buried in the Common Burial Ground on the Farewell Street side of the cemetery, marked by an unusual gravestone engraved with an anchor and oars. Her birthplace still stands at 283 Spring St in Newport, Rhode Island.

Lime Rock Light was automated in 1927, 16 years after Lewis died in her beloved home. In 1969 the Newport Pell bridge was completed spanning Narraganset Bay’s East Passage and connecting Jamestown to Newport. This 2-mile suspension bridge brought illumination to the harbor, rendering the lighthouses obsolete. Today, the Ida Lewis Yacht Club, which formally opened on July 4, 1929, is perched atop Lime Rock, and the club’s burgee (triangle or swallow tail flag) features 18 stars, representing the lives of those Lewis plucked from the sea.

*Stoicism is a moral and ethical philosophy that emphasizes the discipline and mastery of the emotions

And now you know...

Thanks, Dad, for the gift of curiosity!

Philosophy is the art of thinking, the building block of progress that shapes critical thinking across economics, ethics, religion, and science.

METAPHYSICS: Literally, the term metaphysics means ‘beyond the physical.’ Typically, this is the branch that most people think of when they picture philosophy. In metaphysics, the goal is to answer the what and how questions in life. Who are we, and what are time and space?

LOGIC: The study of reasoning. Much like metaphysics, understanding logic helps to understand and appreciate how we perceive the rest of our world. More than that, it provides a foundation for which to build and interpret arguments and analyses.

ETHICS: The study of morality, right and wrong, good and evil. Ethics tackles difficult conversations by adding weight to actions and decisions. Politics takes ethics to a larger scale, applying it to a group (or groups) of people. Political philosophers study political governments, laws, justice, authority, rights, liberty, ethics, and much more.

AESTHETICS: What is beautiful? Philosophers try to understand, qualify, and quantify what makes art what it is. Aesthetics also takes a deeper look at the artwork itself, trying to understand the meaning behind it, both art as a whole and art on an individual level. A question an aesthetics philosopher would seek to address is whether or not beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

EPISTEMOLOGY: This is the study and understanding of knowledge. The main question is how do we know? We can question the limitations of logic, how comprehension works, and the ability (or perception) to be certain.