Lighthouse Stamps Out-- Part 3: Sally Snowman and the Lights

Sally Snowman was hired as the Boston Light lighthouse keeper in 2003 after volunteering there and co-authoring Boston Light: A Historical Perspective. Her job includes cleaning and maintenance and "light housekeeping" as she likes to joke. She wears attire like the first keepers would have worn after the Revolutionary War.

She says lighthouses stand for hope, "For those immigrants who came into Boston, seeing Boston Light was the hope of a new beginning. And when people have survived shipwrecks in Boston Harbor are asked about what kept them going-- what helped them keep the faith-- many said it was this lighthouse.

Jeff Gales of the U.S. Lighthouse Society says the stamps will help raise interest in these storied pieces of American architecture. "Eash lighthouse had their own light pattern," a pattern of light movements which would distinguish one lighthouse from another." There was a book that identified these light patterns in these days before GPS. Lighthouses also often were painted with different patterns which made them distinguishable in daylight.

We'll Leave the Light On. --Cooter