J. Candace Clifford

Any attempt to summon up the women who kept lighthouses on the Chesapeake Bay in the first half of the 19th century is obscured by huge gaps in the historical records-gaps that reflect the lack of interest in recording the accomplishments of working men and women in that period. For many lighthouse keepers, all that remains is a record of their appointment and length of service. Research in the National Archives revealed 141 women across the country who were appointed official keepers. Hundreds more were officially appointed assistant keepers, generally aiding their fathers or husbands.

Frequent complaints about the quality of aids to navigation reached Congress, which appointed a board in 1851 to scrutinize every aspect of the Lighthouse Establishment. It recommended that the whole system be revamped under the direction of a nine-member Light-House Board, established in 1852. The country was divided into districts, and a Navy officer would act as inspector in each district. He oversaw personnel matters, making regular visits to light stations to ensure that keepers understood their duties and performed them satisfactorily.

Early keepers of lighthouses were often chosen for political reasons and so were not always very good at their jobs. There were no age limits, nor any specific qualifications for the appointment. Responding to a letter criticizing the keeper of Cape Henry Light at the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia, constructed in the 1790s, President Thomas Jefferson stated, "I think the keepers of lighthouses should be dismissed for small degrees of remissness, because of the calamities which even these produce. "

In 1927 the Airways Division issued the following Specification For Airway Flood Lights: General Description - Each floodlight unit shall consist of a drum type housing mounted on a rigid pedestal, this drum to be fitted with a 14" or 16" commercial precision parabolic glass mirror, mogul screw socket, a spread light lens, and suitable provision for mounting a color screen.

The newly-invented airplane proved its utility during World War I. When the war was over, the War Department continued to develop aviation for military purposes. The Post Office Department started the first air mail routes. And entrepreneurs began to examine the possible commercial uses ofthe airplane. Very few people today, however, remember that the federal agency charged by Congress in 1926 with overseeing the birth pangs of civil aviation was the Lighthouse Bureau in the Department of Commerce. The Bureau and its predecessors had a century and a half of experience in lighting seaways.

Lighthouse keepers were expected to be hospitable to strangers. In 1853 the United States Light-House Board (USLHB) provided lighthouse keepers with written instructions: "Keepers must be courteous and polite to all visitors and show them everything of interest about the station at such times as will not interfere with light-house duties. Keepers must not allow visitors to handle the apparatus or deface light-house property. Special care must be taken to prevent scratching of names and initials on the glass of the lanterns or on the windows of the towers.

The lighthouse keeper's job engaged or her 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days of the year in the 19th century. Unless assistant keepers were assigned to the station, there were no days off, no paid vacation. If a keeper left his station, either members of his family performed his duties while he was gone or a substitute was hired and paid by the keeper.