Stephen and Graham Archer became ingrained in North Shore history when they became the first Black fire chiefs in Lynn and Swampscott respectively, but neither imagined that they would pursue a career in public service.
“Neither of us were the kids who would follow around fire trucks growing up,” said Graham, who grew up in Lynn as the youngest sibling in a family of 10. “It was never a thought in my mind until I happened to take the civil service exam with some friends, almost on a lark. They were going and I said I’d tag along as well.”
That decision kicked off a 30-plus year career in civil service. Graham performed well on the exam and was offered a position in the Swampscott Fire Department in 1989, as the first, and at that point, the only Black firefighter hired by the department.
“It’s kind of a whirlwind,” said Graham of his early days in the department. “Trying to keep up, trying to learn.”
He grew to really enjoy the work, noting that he was aided by his older mentors.
“I had some senior firefighters who were really warm and welcoming to me and who freely shared what they had,” he said. “I really grew up in the firefighting service.”
Eventually, Graham brought his older brother, Stephen (eighth in line among the 10 Archer children), into the service with him.
“The fire service was not something that I was interested in at all,” said Stephen, who was working as a union electrician at that point. “But (Graham) told me about what a good opportunity it was, and actually went so far as to hand me the application and tell me to fill it out.”
Stephen took the exam and accepted a position in the Lynn Fire Department in 1993.
“Your adrenaline is going a mile a minute,” Stephen said of his first experience going into a fire. “You really rely on your training and your fellow firefighters that are there with you.”
“I was too young to be scared,” added Graham of his own initial experience.
Both men are grateful for the Black Lynn firefighters who provided mentorship and paved the way for them, which included Buzzy Barton, now vice president of the Lynn City Council, Ken Turner, Larry Pitcher, Sherm Womack and Bobby Kimber.
“The older Black firefighters were great,” said Stephen. “They were instrumental in taking me under their wings and making sure I was going to be alright. They were great guys to have around and you knew that there was somebody watching your back.”
“And to keep you humble at the same time,” added Graham. “If you have a sensitive spot, they’re going to find it.”
Stephen credits the contributions of those men with helping him and his brother rise through the ranks in their respective departments.
Stephen served as a lieutenant, captain and district fire chief before becoming the Lynn fire chief in February 2018, while Graham also served as a lieutenant, captain and the town’s first full-time fire prevention officer before being appointed Swampscott chief in December 2019.
During his time with the Swampscott Fire Department, Graham said conversations around race were uncommon among his white co-workers.
“As the only Black firefighter in town, it wasn’t something at the front of my mind every day,” said Graham. “It was something that wasn’t really a topic of conversation or even a conscious thought on very many occasions.”
However, he said the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer last May and the resurgent Black Lives Matter movement have brought those issues to the forefront.
“Times are changing,” said Graham. “I’ve seen more difficult and honest conversations in the last year than I have in many years before that.”
Graham noted the ongoing push to diversify the Swampscott Fire Department, which involved leaving the civil service system through a Town Meeting vote last November. Overhauling the fire department’s hiring practices is not only aimed at more accurately representing the community of Swampscott — it’s also focused on the broader region, he said.
For example, Graham said expanding the candidate pool for good-paying jobs in the fire department could potentially be used as an anchor to bring in more minorities to live and work in Swampscott.
Stephen said Lynn has made good strides in diversifying the city’s fire department in terms of race and ethnicity, but both Archers agreed that their departments have a long way to go in terms of making fire service jobs more accessible to women.
“One of the things we try to do is to let the community know that these are positions that are open to women and to people of all ethnic backgrounds,” said Stephen.
During his time as the fire chief, Stephen has updated and modernized the standard operating procedures of the Lynn Fire Department and improved the equipment available to firefighters, most recently through the purchase of two new engines, an aerial ladder truck and a new ambulance for the department’s paramedic truck.
In his first year as the fire chief, Graham led the Swampscott Fire Department’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which involved keeping the town safe by distributing masks, sanitizer and information to residents.
While Stephen and Graham serve different communities, the two brothers still work closely with one another.
“It’s great,” said Stephen. “We’ll call each other and pick each other’s brains, on the challenges we’re facing. It’s a feeling of comfort to know that you have someone as close as a brother to lean on.”
