The Northwestern Lifesaving Crew in the 1870’s, equipped with supplies by the federal government. Courtesy of University Archives.
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Safeguarding Lake Michigan
In the 1870's, years before Northwestern played its first intercollegiate football game, many young men were part of a very different University team: the crew of the nation's first and only lifesaving station manned by students.
During the course of four decades, 77 Northwestern students saved more than 400 people from their deaths in Lake Michigan.
Tragedy and Heroism
On September 8, 1860, the Milwaukee-bound steamer Lady Elgin collided with a lumber-laden schooner, the Augusta, a few miles north of Evanston. The death toll of 287 would have been greater had it not been for a dozen or so Northwestern and Garrett students who volunteered their help. Edward Spencer, class of 1862, was credited with the rescue of 17 people.
The tragedy lead to a public outcry for better lifesaving facilities. After an especially harsh winter, the government presented Northwestern University with one lifeboat in 1871. The boat was entrusted to the senior class, who supplied the crew.
"One of the Liveliest Extra-Curricular Activities"
A crew of six to eight students manned the lake during navigation season, from April 1 to December 1. Strong and vigorous routines were established, including an inspection program and practice with the rescue equipment. The men were to be in a constant state of readiness. These early crews were declared to be "the best organized, drilled, and equipped on Lake Michigan."
"From 1871 until 1916, lifesaving was one of the liveliest extra-curricular activities on campus," reported The Daily Northwestern in 1947. "Students here actually stood watches, manned lifeboats, and saved lives."
In 1876, the federal government built and equipped a lifesaving station in the area of what is now Fisk Hall. The small stone-and-brick station was erected because of a long, submerged reef that snakes out into Lake Michigan about a mile north of campus. The reef was hidden peril to ships blown in toward shore.
The station was to be manned by students, who received $40 a month from the government, plus an extra $3 for each "wreck trip." In 880, the government decided to secure for the station "a man of mature years and with an active seaman's experience and judgement." Lawrence O. Lawson was appointed keeper; for the next 23 years, he remained at the station year-round.
A Harrowing Rescue
After numerous rescue operations in the 1880's, the lifesaving crew faced its biggest challenge during the early morning of Thanksgiving Day 1889. The 1,500-ton steamer Calumet, carrying 18 men, had run aground off Highland Park's Fort Sheridan in "one of the fiercest blizzards known in that region in years," according to the station chief's log. The temperature was not much above zero.
After receiving a telegram from local residents, the Northwestern crew quickly towed one lifeboat north through the snow and arrived as the vessel was falling apart. Lifelines fired by the cannons fell short, so the crew had no choice but to brave the high and crashing surf.
In three trips to the wrecked ship more than 600 yards off shore, the Northwestern students saved the entire Calumet crew. When the rescue was completed, the students were so numb they could barely walk.
Secretary of the Treasury awarded Captain Lawson and each of his seven crew members the Gold Medal for distinguished conduct and bravery, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. Lifesaving Service.
From Lifesaving Station to Classroom
In 1899, the lifesaving station was moved to make way for the new Fisk Hall. Northwestern students continued to man the station until 1916 when the U.S. Coast Guard relieved them. Finally, in 1931, the Coast Guard moved the lifesaving operation to Wilmette Harbor.
The University bought the building for $20 and converted it to the Northwestern men's student union. It later housed psychology offices and commerce classes. In 1954, the 78-year old building was razed to make room for landscaping of the new Kresge Centennial Hall.
While the building no longer exists, the history of those adventurous days, when Northwestern housed the country's only student-manned lifesaving station, remains.