Background
Washburn, Barbara Polk was born on November 10, 1914 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
cartographer explorer researcher
Washburn, Barbara Polk was born on November 10, 1914 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
Graduate, Smith College, 1935. Doctor of Science (honorary), University Alaska, 1995. Doctor of Science (honorary), Boston University, 1996.
Doctor of Science (honorary), Simmons College, 2001.
She became the first woman to climb Denali (Mount McKinley) on June 6, 1947. She was the wife of mountaineer and scientist Bradford Washburn. Barbara died a few weeks short of her 100th birthday.
The Washburns often worked in tandem areas of mountaineering, exploring, mapping, and museum administration.
She did not realize that she had been the first woman to climb Denali until after their ascent. In 1981, the Washburns produced the most detailed and accurate map ever made of Mount Everest.
Barbara"s memoir is The Accidental Adventurer: Memoir of the First Woman to Climb Mountain. McKinley by Barbara Washburn, Lew Freedman, and Bradford Washburn, Epicenter Press, May 2001.
First woman to climb Denali (1947).
Despite this, Barbara led the ascent of the corniced north ridge section of Mountain Hayes. Other climbers have described this section of the traverse as "so narrow and the snow so soft that you could not put your feet side by side.".
Board directors Boston Children's Service Association. Overseer Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston. Member corporation Fernald School, 1976.
Member Cambridge League of Women Voters, 1945-1950, Mount Auburn Hospital Auxiliary, Cambridge, 1945-1960. President Women's Travel Club of Boston, 1949-1951. President Cambridge Smith College Club, 1952-1954.
Board service league Museum of Science, 1959-1962, secretary, 1961-1962. Chairman personal interview program for Smith, Alumnae Fund in Boston, 1964-1965.
Married Bradford Washburn, April 27, 1940. Children: Dorothy, Edward, Elizabeth.