Women of the Lights [Paperback]

Candace Fleming (Author), James Watling (Author)

Book Description

Chronicles the lives of women who lived and worked in lighthouses, braving seas and storms, rescuing people from icy waters, and lovingly caring for their lights.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6?Fleming presents fascinating information about the various women who tended American lighthouses despite horrible weather and sometimes great personal tragedy. The introduction reaches back to 1768 and the role Hannah Thomas played in protecting the Massachusetts coast during the American Revolution. The author devotes separate chapters to Ida Lewis, described at her funeral as "...the most remarkable woman Newport [RI] ever produced"; Kate Walker, who raised a family while serving as a lighthouse keeper; Harriet Colfax, who tended the Michigan City Lighthouse; and Emily Fish, who tended the Point Pinos Lighthouse in Monterey, CA, and brought with her a remarkably elegant lifestyle. The text is easy to read, clear, and well organized. Black-and-white illustrations and photographs, particularly of the subjects in their corsets and long skirts, reinforce just how unusual these women were. A book that will attract adventure-seekers and history buffs from coast to coast.?Joan Soulliere, Wenham Public Library, MA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 4^-6. Discussing the history of women as American lighthouse keepers, Fleming begins in Revolutionary War days and continues into the twentieth century, when the Coast Guard took over lighthouses, updated their technology, and gradually retired the civilian keepers. Four chapters highlight individual women noted for their courage in rescues at sea and their tenacity in tending the lamps: Ida Lewis of Newport, Rhode Island; Kate Walker of New York Harbor; Harriet Colfax of Michigan City, Indiana; and Emily Fish of California's Monterey Peninsula. The last chapter introduces a number of other women who gained renown as lighthouse keepers. Drawings with gray washes illustrate dramatic scenes of adventure, and black-and-white photographs provide glimpses of the lighthouses and their keepers. Source notes provide a sense of the research behind this intriguing, well-written book. Carolyn Phelan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Co (April 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807591645
• ISBN-13: 978-0807591642
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,067,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Women Who Kept the Lights, April 6, 2000

By 

Patricia L. MacAodha (Portland, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Women of the Lights (Hardcover)

Until I found this book listed by Amazon.com, I never realized women *were* lighthouse keepers. Clifford and Clifford's book will banish forever the image of the lighthouse keeper as crusty old batchelor, and will bring a renewed sense of awareness of the many accomplishments of which women are capable. The careful research done by the authors brings out a rarely publicized image of the women who tended the big lights, carefully pollishing the reflectors and the glass, keeping the lighthouses clean and functional, welcoming and educating visitors and doing their part - often heroically, to keep the vital paths of sea and lake open and safer by running these lights (often operating more than one beacon), running foghorns(either through mechanical devices or by hand), even saving lives. Through each vignette, a larger and more complete image emerges of the lives of the women who tended lighthouses, often while caring for invalid fathers and husbands, as well as bearing and raising children in these often-isolated locations. I must admit, I wish there had been more material on the west coast of America, and hope there might be a sequal. The photographs and sidebars added substance to this excellent publication. This will be a worthwhile addition to any library, especially if the reader enjoys American history and the role of women in American culture.