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By Joan L. Collins, Director, Outreach and Education, Pea Island Preservation Society, Inc.

On Saturday morning, December 14 from 8 a.m. until 11 a.m., the Pea Island Preservation Society, Inc. (PIPSI) will be accepting donations for the annual Dell Collins Coat Drive. Those who can are asked to take a morning drive or stroll to the Cookhouse Museum and bring a donated item. We will be accepting as donations new coats, jackets, sweatshirts and hoodies that have not previously been worn as well as non-perishable food items. We are also accepting cash donations. The Cookhouse Museum is located at Collins Park, 622 Sir Walter Raleigh Street in Manteo.

This annual event is to remember the late Dell Collins, who served as a Manteo town commissioner and mayor pro tem for several years. It was her vision to relocate the Cookhouse building, once located at the last U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) station built on Pea Island, to Roanoke Island and to renovate it as a museum. She knew that Roanoke Island would be the perfect spot to display the forgotten history of Keeper Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers. Because of her efforts, the Pea Island Cookhouse Museum and two additional sites, the Keeper Richard Etheridge Statue and the Herbert M. Collins Boat House are now at Collins Park. Her advocacy, especially for the underserved in the community, still brings a big smile to those who knew of her works.

Collins Park honors Etheridge and the historic Pea Island station. It is also a reminder of the connection this history has to the Freedmen’s Colony once on Roanoke Island, a location where thousands who were enslaved came to seek freedom and a better life during the Civil War. On January 24, 1880, Etheridge, who grew up enslaved on Roanoke Island, became the first Black person in the nation to command a U.S. Life-Saving Service (USLSS) station. After his selection, he was assigned an all-Black crew. The station, which was regarded as one of the best on the coast, is most known for the October 11, 1896 rescue by Etheridge and his crew of all-nine onboard the shipwrecked E.S. Newman in the middle of the night during a fierce storm, a hurricane. This daring rescue went forgotten for almost 100 years until March 1996 when Etheridge and his crew were posthumously awarded the prestigious USCG Gold Lifesaving Medal for this daring and heroic act. It is also noteworthy that following Etheridge’s death in May 1900, the Pea Island station remained staffed primarily with Black commanders and crews until it was deactivated in 1947 and decommissioned.

Many locals are also connected to the history of the Pea Island station as evidenced by the several commonly known local last names of men who served there. Common local last names such as Etheridge, Wescott, Pugh, Berry, Midgett, Meekins, Scarborough, Collins and others displayed on the plaque on the front of the Cookhouse are reminders of the story of the enslaved and the free. This holiday season is a special time to think about these connections and what they say about lives past and present.

Although presently the inside of the Cookhouse Museum is closed as future improvements are planned, there are several outdoor exhibits at Collins Park that also tell the history of the Pea Island station. Also, a prominent life-size bronze statue of Keeper Richard Etheridge is at the street roundabout. In addition, the Herbert M. Collins Boathouse which sits next to the museum will be open for viewing on Saturday morning.

Clothing donations will be provided to Dare County Social Services and to local food pantries. Cash donations will be provided to another non-profit organization, to be selected by the PIPSI Board members, that is doing work to help the community. If you are unable to drop off a donation, monetary donations may also be mailed to: Pea Island Preservation Society, Inc., P.O. Box 217, Manteo, NC 27954. If mailing a check, please note it is for “The Annual Dell Collins Coat Drive.”

Thank you in advance for your support! Your donation will help brighten someone else’s day just as the brave men at the Pea Island station did during the hundreds rescues they performed.

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