THE SHIPWRECK AND THE TRUE ILLUMINATION NIGHT

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Light the Lanterns is actually a piece of lost Americana. It is in essence a 60s folk song. A lot of people understandably miss this aspect of the song. But behind its cryptic, poetic minimalism, lies a true story of great heroism. And evidently more a Californian maritime folk tale rather than one set in Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts!

The seeds of all memorable folk songs start with a story. There's undercurrents of hope and despair, success and failure, loving and losing—all dramas which capture the eternal journeys of we mortals.

So let us begin this fascinating story. Throughout this page, the song lyrics are included as "bold italic quotes" to show the perfect match-up of lyrical poetry and the historical reality I have uncovered.

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The 1944 Shipwrecked Sailors and Their Homecoming

On the foggy night of May 31, 1944, the Liberty Ship SS Henry Bergh was returning from the Pacific Theatre of WWII. It was only 47kms (29 miles) west of the Golden Gate Bridge, California. [See map at bottom].

Up on deck, 1400 returning servicemen were loudly "celebrating their homecoming". They would soon pass under that famous bridge, half a world away from their previous posts amidst the dangers of war. In just a few hours they would be greeted by thousands of loved ones with streamers on the San Francisco dock -- home, safe, at last.

But surrounding the ship, the fog was so thick, and the partying up on deck so loud, that at 5 am the Captain missed seeing the lighthouse beam and hearing the foghorn from the South East Farallon Island lighthouse. The off-course ship slammed into the jagged rocks of the "mythological" Devil's Teeth -- ironically at a section called Drunk Uncle Islets -- at its full speed of 11 knots. The Farallones, as they were known by the natives, have wrecked over 400 ships in 500 years. [See Farallon Island pics at bottom]

The Henry Bergh immediately started taking on water. But within the next fateful hours, the 27 residents and 50 wartime servicemen stationed on SEFI, plus a flotilla of navy ships immediately dispatched from San Francisco, rescued every single sailor and soldier who had been on board. Of the total 1,400, 600 made it to the island by either swimming the 200 yards through the darkness, fog, icy waves, and clambering over the rocky shoreline; by traversing several breeches buoys (ziplines) which had been rigged up from ship to shore; or on lifeboats ferrying 25 at a time over to the rocky shoreline. Another 800 were lifted off the floundering ship and taken directly back to SF by Naval Rescue ships. And after all that, not a single soul was lost. What a tale! [See rescue pics at bottom].

During the rescue -- as you can well imagine -- every available kerosene hurricane lamp on the island (and there would have been a lot) would have been brought down to the rocky foreshores to play a role in marking the safest places for men to swim to and the lifeboats to offload before making more trips. [See lantern pics at bottom].

The "crazy ladies" from the Farallon Island's three "gingerbread houses" would have been furiously filling and trimming the wicks and "lighting the lanterns for the shipwrecked sailors" till daybreak; bringing dry clothes to the swimmers; then graciously feeding them for four days from their own food stocks.

"They drank all our coffee, ate all our bread and used all our blankets, but they were a wonderful group of boys." — Grace Thompson, Farallon Island resident, 1944.

Clearly this massive rescue effort was where the sailors' "will to live collided with (the) love" of their valiant rescuers, as sung in the three choruses of the song.

The term "crazy ladies in gingerbred houses" is more likely a flippant caricature of the well-documented, difficult lives that remote island lighthouse women had to endure along America's rocky coastlines.

So we see that "Lighting the Lanterns", as the songs's primary motif, had its origins on May 31st, 1944, in the Pacific Ocean. And clearly nothing to do with Martha's Vineyard.

Military Secrecy

An interesting thing about the Henry Bergh's grounding is that there was substantial information suppression about it at the time. Nationwide, only one San Fransisco newspaper made mention if it. Such was much wartime reportage.

The ship was nearly triple overloaded with 1400 passengers, not 564!
The partying up on deck was against navy regulations.
There were rumours that the ship's watchman was "involved with the party" (ie, read drunk).
And the Captain? Well, he got demoted to a First Mate "for errors in plotting the course, failing to take soundings, and allowing passenger noise to interfere with the lookouts' ability to hear fog signals".
In addition to the usual 27 island family residents, there were at that time an extra 50 military personnel stationed on the island in barracks for coastal defence, as well as operators of a secret "listening post" against the Japanese. [REF: Military Link]

I suggest the presence of an extra 50 highly organised manpower assisting with the shipwreck rescue would have been a major factor for its success in saving so many souls in such perilous circumstances. It is very doubtful that 27 civilians alone could have managed such a mammoth successful rescue.

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The Birth of Illumination Night

Thomas Allen Atkinson (b.1991 d.1950) with his young family, was originally a 2nd Assistant Lighthouse Keeper on South East Farallon Isand from 1925 - 1931. His wife, Grace Delpha (b.1907 d.1981), unexpectedly gave birth there to their first born daughter, Delpha Elizabeth, 6 weeks early on 19th Feb 1927. [See Atkinson family photos at bottom]. "She was born on a magic island".

The Atkinsons were subsequently transferred from SEFI to Point Vicente Light Station, then to the Humbolt Lighthouse, and then to Point Cabrillo Lighthouse between Mendocino and Fort Bragg in 1939, where they remained until Thomas's death "on the job" in 1950. [See Point Cabrillo pics. Note: they are also gingerbread style architecture].

Thomas had no doubt heard all about the Farallon shipwreck and rescue from his Coast Guard workmate James C. Moore who was the head keeper on South East Farallon Island, 1942-1945, and was no doubt substantially involved with the 1944 rescue effort.

Coincidentally, that same year, at age 17, Delpha married, left home (the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse) and went to live in San Leandro, San Francisco where she lived till her death in 1993. So, tellingly, from 1944 to 1993 Delpha lived 200 miles distant from her mother Grace who resided in Point Cabrillo (1939-1950) and later in Mendocino Village -- from 1950 till her death at Fort Bragg in 1981.

From 1944 up until his death in 1950, I postulate that somewhere around Point Cabrillo Lighthouse (yet to be discovered), each May 31st (yet to be confirmed), that Thomas and Grace Atkinson --and possibly their other children still living at home -- Flora, Mildred, Clarence, Carl -- lit a number of kerosene lanterns to honour the amazing rescue event of those 1400 "shipwrecked sailors".

In 1950, Thomas died, leaving Grace as the sole adult torch bearer, and having to move out of the lighthouse keeper's cottage. Grace resettled with Clarence (20), Mildred (17), Carl (15) in Mendocino village from 1950 to 1964.

But by 1953, all of Grace's children had married and moved away, leaving Grace to carry the legacy alone until 1961/62 when Delpha first took the singer to illumination night.

Initially, I suppose like many listeners would, I had presumed that the lyrics "crazy ladies in gingerbread houses, light the lanterns for the shipwrecked sailors" applied to a sort of coven who were the performers of the illumination night. But a reassessment now makes clear that those lyrics refer to the original "crazy ladies" on the Farallons present at the rescue in 1944, and NOT to some later people who were conducting the illumination night. Although, Grace connects them sympathetically!

The 1944-1964 illumination night was therefore a celebratory, symbolic EMULATION of the original rescue night carried on by Grace until 20 years after the original event. And THAT'S why Grace's little illumination was in danger of its "lights extinuishing". There was just no-one interested enough to keep it going beyond 1961/62.

Delpha: The She in the Story

[See Atkinson family photos at bottom]

As the song tells, Delpha was the go-between. Around 1961-63, "She took me to illumination night, to pass on a legacy." Delpha was the link between the generation of her mother Grace (57), herself (36), and some younger singer; and between the cultures of religious ritual (old Grace) and youthful spirituality (the singer). But on the second year, Delpha did not turn up -- "she left me with Grace the next year."

Delpha's unexplained absence was around 1962-64, the year when she and her family finally took a trip to Hawaii to meet her in-laws for the first time "after 18 years of marriage" in (1944+18=1962-64). [REF: Oral History Tape].

The singer's words "she went away, I don't know where", indicate that Delpha never told her why or where she was going. She just missed a year and never came back. Coincidentally -- or not -- Delpha's little brother Carl, Grace's youngest son, died in a Fort Bragg car crash in 1964 at age 30. So maybe that grief was the cause of Delpha's disappearance.

The year that Delpha was away, was when "Grace got drunk in a Chinese restaurant", and the singer laments "all I saw were the lights extinguishing".

Residential records show that Grace left Mendocino in 1964 and went to live further south, first with her sister Mildred Grover City, and then in Cloverdale with her son Clarence. We must therefore conclude that the illumination event was definitely over by 1965. It's also possible that Grace's restaurant morbidity was soon after Carl's death, dating the restaurant night to 1964.

Grace The Matriarch

[See Atkinson family photos at bottom].

After Thomas's death in 1950, Grace was moved on from her goverment-provided, gingerbred-style dwelling at Point Cabrillo. She relocated to a private residence at #20 Main St South, right on the headland overlooking the estuary of Big River, Mendocino. Here, each May 31st (I suspect), in the wind or the rain, it is likely (although still undocumented), she kept up her lantern ritual. Grace, the remaining torch bearer of that celebration, may have called it her little "illumination night" -- to which the singer refers -- although it's also possible that that was just a nickname given to the event by the singer. That was up until the time when Grace wanted to "pass on the legacy".

Her intention to pass on her 20 year old, one-woman illumination night might be explained by the fact that by the mid 1960s, Grace would have been a 15-year widow of 58 with none of her 5 surviving children living at home, maybe drifting into loneliness and grief after losing a youngish husband to cancer he would not allow treated, and her youngest son at 30 in a local car crash.

From what I've dug up, Grace Atkinson was an interesting character. She was a Matron of The Order of the Eastern Star, a female equivalent of The Masons, of which her husband Thomas was a member. Now I'm not suggesting the illumination night was a formal OES performance. But without any doubt, Grace's belonging to this secret order would have DEEPLY driven her life even outside of the temple. An AI look-up of "What would be the significance of a lantern lighting ritual to an OES member in her private time outside the OES temple" lists the following:

In OES philosophy, "The Light" represents divine wisdom and truth. Lighting a lantern in private signifies:
* Dispelling Ignorance --A symbolic act of seeking clarity in personal decision-making;
* Refining Character -- The flame represents the "all-seeing eye" and the constant presence of the Grand Architect, encouraging the member to live according to their obligations when no other members are present;
* Spiritual Continuity -- It bridges the gap between the formal ceremonies of the Chapter room and the practical application of those lessons in daily life.
OES teachings emphasize Charity, Truth, and Loving Kindness. A private ritual serves as a profound personal commitment to those tenets.

The lantern lighting would be a way for the member to internalize the "Light" of the Order and carry its guiding principles into her private life.

Hmm, that sounds a lot more like our song than MV lolly-houses with electric lights and lemonade.

The songwriting suggests our hippie-singer-girl grasped the spiritual significance of Grace's ritual and agreed to accompany Delpha on the first visit, to try to continue the tradition. Yet even despite Delpha's dissappearance on the second year, the singer vowed to return on the third year "to see if I can light the lights". This suggests that Grace must have been abandoning the ceremony; that Delpha was not coming back to help save it; and that the singer would have to tackle dealing with the kerosene hurricane lamps on her own.

Grace leaving Mendocino in 1964, fits with Delpha "dissappearing" to Hawaii in 1962/63. This dates the singer's first illumination night visit as 1961/62, suggesting she was 16-18 at the time of meeting the Atkinsons. We are therefore looking for an aspiring songwriting schoolgirl.

The Obscurity of Grace's Illumination Night

Amazingly, Delpha Atkinson's still-living daughter Denise (b.1954) did not recognize the song or know about any lantern-lighting ceremony her grandmother had performed between 1944 - 1964 when I contacted her and gave her a YouTube link to the song and told her all the history about her mother and grandmother I had dug up. She did however confirm the following family facts:

"Yes, my mother was born on the Farallons".
"Oh yes, Grandma liked her drink".

"But life on the Farallons was NOT magic. I grew up with Grandma's stories of how hard it was".
"She wasn't crazy, but many would probably think she was ... to live out on that desolate rock".
"The only lamp lighting she knew for most of her life were those stinky kerosene hurricane lamps".
"Despite the song having family coincidences, I think it sounds like fiction".

This shows that by the age of 14 (1962), living in San Leandro her whole life with Delpha, Denise had not crossed paths with her grandmother-in-Mendocino's lantern ceremony held annually on May 31st. It also shows how the singer had greatly romantised the story, indicating that she certainly was NOT family, nor particularly close to Delpha or Grace. She could only have been a convenient, sympathetic acquaintance over the 2-3 years she knew them. The Atkinson's stories were partly a vehicle for her mystical attraction to a light ceremony, and/or a suitable folk tale to further her musical ambition.

Interestingly too, in 1977, Delpha gave an Oral History radio interview in San Francisco where she made no mention of such a song, nor of her mother's little ceremony -- proving that the taped demo never progressed beyond its office burial in L.A. and that her memory of Grace's illumination night and of meeting our singer lay private and buried from 13 - 33 years earlier.

All this anonymity clearly suggests that the song relates to a truly obscure, privately-revealed story at the Chinese restaurant, composed into a song which the songwriter did not even share with the characters in her song, let alone get it out into the public domain where Grace and Delpha and her teenage and daughter would surely have heard about it.

The Universalism of Illumination

The term "illumination night" has been used over millenia in innumerable memorial and celebratory settings. This is the fundamental flaw made by all those who have attached to the MV event. They Googled the term and it tossed up the most popular return in their own culture and period.

From a broader view, the global and historical origins of lighting celebrations, including terms like "illumination" and "lighting lanterns", go back thousands of years as a cultural archetype for both mourning and celebration. That's why LTL evokes feelings far deeper than the Martha's Vineyard party lights. Whereas the Martha's Vineyard Grand Illumination Night owns modern day popular recognition of the term within America, ironically, Grace's little celebration originates from not only from the same Judeo-Christian biblical roots of fire ceremony as the MVCMA, but also from the hippie girl's inate anthropological attraction to fire and light rituals.

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The Lights Extingishing

The song's key tragedy is its narrative of lost tradition -- "all I could see were the lights extinguishing". Grace's ritual was intrinsically, symbolically linked to the U.S. Lighthouse Service as a respected national institution; her husband's life of service towards all coastal mariners; to a way of life that was rapidly ending due to automation; and most specifically to the celebration of what was pretty well a martime rescue miracle.

It's now clear from family feedback that the singer greatly romanticized the story, indicating that she certainly was NOT family, nor even close to Delpha or Grace. Terms like "magic island", "certain mythology" show her leanings towards poetry rather than reality. She could only have been a convenient, sympathetic acquaintance over the 3 years she knew them. The Atkinson's stories were only a vehicle for her cryptic, mystical, 60s folk song to further her musical ambition. But what happened to her after recording the song in 1968-69?

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The Chinese Restaurant Discovered

Once the regional geography of the Atkinsons was ascertained, it became quite easy to locate the Chinese Restaurant in question. I mean, there weren't going to be too many in far north Californian coastal towns in the mid 60s!

Records point to the restaurant in question being Quong's Cafe Riviera and Chinese Restaurant, 340 Main Street Fort Bragg, between Alder and Redwood Sts -- a known popular hangout for the young ones by day, with a licened restaurant by night. It was a combination American Diner, Cafe and Chinese restaurant. Sounds like the perfect place for the women of different ages and backgrounds to initially meet up, share life stories, and then hatch their plan to save Grace's little celebration. I've done thorough searches of the region to discover that Quong's was the only Chinese eatery north of The Bay's Chinatown. It closed in 1966, further proving that the narrative (but not the recording) was sparked before 1966.

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Conclusion

The history of the Farallon shipwreck and its links to the Atkinson family fully decodes the lyrics of the song and puts to rest all validity of the Martha's Vineyard theory.

Our collective effort must now shift to identifying the enigmatic singer who firstly met the Atkinsons around 1961-1964 in Northern California, and then recorded the song in 1968-1969 (maybe in Mendocino, maybe in San Fransisco) -- as confidently dated by Joel Selvin and three experienced musical producers. See Songwriting Breakdown, Musical Breakdown, Production Breakdown, Dating Breakdown.

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GO TO PAGE 5 - The New 2025 Recording

Page References

The TRUE "Gingerbread Houses" -
in the Light the Lanterns story. Delpha said there were three during her childhood there. Yeah, not quite as charming as the MV variety!

The Two Remaining "Gingerbread Houses" on SEFI

The REAL Gingerbread Houses in Light the Lanterns

The Miraculous Shipwreck

Can you imagine getting 1400 (drunken) servicemen off a sinking ship -- 600 to land and 800 via rescue boats -- at 5am, across waves and trecherous rocks on a foggy morning. Pretty amazing that not one life was lost.

Shipwreck Archive

https://www.islapedia.com/index.php?title=S.S._Henry_Bergh

SS Henry Bergh - Broken in pieces after 3 days

Sailors in lifeboat - 600 made it to shore in 3 hours

A Breeches Buoy - one way to get ashore

A Breeches Buoy - Getting ashore by zipline

Happy Survivors - on their way to SF

Types of Lanterns

There would have been three basic types on the island at that time: The Military and Coast Guard issue pressure hurricane lamps (single or dual mantle); the immersion wick external hurricane lanterns; the immersion wick glass chiminey type lamps for inside dwellings.

The first type were pretty technical to light and maintain -- not to mention dangerous for the untrained. They had the nickname "a-bomb-in-a-box". They could literally squirt flaming kerosene a meter away from themselves if not primed properly.

The second type were only a little tricky to light and service, but manageable out of the wind or rain.

The third type were not for outdoors.

All three are the 3 types of lanterns that the "crazy ladies" would have lit for the "shipwrecked sailors" in May 1944. But after her move from Pt Cabrillo Lighthouse into Mendocino township in 1950, we can safely presume that Grace would have kept lighting the middle type (non-pressurised, external) for another 20 years for her personal illumination night in celebration of the rescue operation. It is the trickiness of wick-trimming and lighting in possible wind and rain that the hippie singer feared she might struggle with alone.

Typical Military and Coast Guard Double Mantle Pressure Lanterns, common at all Lighthouses

Typical Outdoor Wick and Kerosene Lanterns that the Crazy Ladies would have used during the 1944 rescue

Typical Indoor Kerosene Lamps 1944

Location of the trecherous Farallons and its Devil's Teeth shoreline

Despite the islands being well charted, the action of wind and currents pushed it off course. The fog and party noise on deck prevented the captain from avoiding the rocks.

Just 3 hours steaming away from home

The Devil's Teeth - A very nasty place to run into at night when you're not expecting it!

100% jagged rocks ALL AROUND the foreshores

Atkinson Family

Deplha ("She") was born on SEFI in 1927, one of only two births there.

"Grace" Atkinson, nee Scott, matriarch of her own little illumination night from 1944 till about 1964 at Point Cabrillo Lighthouse, then later on the clifftop at Mendocino.

Thomas Atkinson, lighthouse keeper 1924 - 1950.