Arthur "Smokestack" Hardy
| Smokestack Hardy | |
|---|---|
| Born |
April 2, 1901 Baltimore, Maryland, United States |
| Died | December 4, 1995 (aged 94) |
| Height | 170 |
| Weight | 152 |
Arthur "Smokestack" Hardy (April 2, 1901 – December 4, 1995) was a volunteer fire fighter, photographer, black fire historian and collector of fire memorabilia (fire buff). He was the first African-American firefighter in Baltimore, Maryland. There is a museum of his collection of fire related artifacts in West Baltimore curated by Guy Cephas, a fellow Retired Auxiliary firefighter. Baltimore has named one of their firestations after him.
At the age of three, he witnessed the Great Baltimore Fire in 1904 from the roof of his grandmothers house and it profoundly influenced his life. As a child, he would run alongside the fire engines with their short black smokestacks on top, which caused the firemen to nickname the youth and fire buff "Smokestack". He attended city schools and worked for Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co. The advent of World War II caused a shortage of firemen in Baltimore and brought about the integration of the Baltimore Fire Department. Hardy joined the first fifteen recruits to the Auxiliary fire dept and became the first African American fireman certified in Baltimore in 1942. The Civil Defense provided training to the black volunteers and they were assigned throughout the city to assist the firemen on runs. He served in the Army during World War II for six months and nine days until he was discharged in 1943 because he was overage. He also worked as a janitor at the Johns Hopkins University while serving as an unpaid auxiliary.
In 1949, he formed the SHC Fire Buff Club, for Smith, Hardy and Carter - Brothers in Arms and fellow fire buffs who advocated for paid auxiliary service. Hardy was the last surviving member of the trio. The Mayor of Baltimore then called for the Auxiliaries to be paid and the first 10 paid black firefighters were hired in 1952 from a Civil Service exam. Integration was not easy for these early recruits, they shared the same 2 beds at the firehouse, brought their own utensils for use in the kitchen, did not share in the activities of the white firefighters as was the case in other cities during the era of civil rights. More classes with black probies followed and this added to the number of black firefighters. Hardy continued as a volunteer firefighter and was a tenor who sang at his church in the choir, also playing the piano and mandolin at the Berea Temple(Seventh-day Adventist) which he had attended as a member for 75 years. Mostly, he followed his passion and with pass cards issued by many different fire depts, crossed fire lines to photograph fire scenes. The auxiliaries were sanctioned by the fire dept and had a working replica of a call board, when a third alarm was called they would assist, setting up ladders and directly assisting in fighting fires.
...
Wikipedia