Bradford Washburn

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Henry Bradford Washburn Jr. (born June 7, 1910 in Cambridge , Massachusetts , † January 10, 2007 in Lexington , Mass.) Was an American mountaineer, photographer, cartographer and museum director.

Life

Bradford Washburn was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1910 . He studied geology and geography at Harvard . From 1939 to 1980 he was director of the Boston Museum of Science , which he transformed into one of the most important natural science museums in the United States.

Washburn was one of the leading mountaineers in the USA and Europe from the 1920s. He climbed many mountains, mainly in Alaska , on new routes. He was often accompanied by his wife Barbara Teel Polk, an equally enthusiastic mountaineer and the first woman to climb Mount McKinley . On preparatory flights for these mountain tours, he created thousands of photographs that are characterized by a wealth of information and artistic expression. He thus introduced aerial photography as a tool for exploring the high mountains and preparing for mountain tours.

Washburn became known worldwide with its cards . He had the topographic maps of Mount McKinley (1960) and Mount Everest (1988), both on a scale of 1: 50,000, processed by the Federal Office of Topography , as he greatly appreciated the Swiss way of depicting rocks on maps. Both cards saw multiple editions.

With his wife, Bradford Washburn had a son and a daughter. He died in Lexington, Massachusetts in 2007 .

Honors

Washburn received nine honorary doctorates and awards from the National Geographic Society , the Royal Geographical Society and the King Albert Medal. In 1956 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

Works

  • Mount McKinley, Alaska 1: 50,000 [maps]. 5th ed. Zurich: Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research; Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 1990.
  • Mount Everest 1: 50,000 [map material]. 2nd ed. Zurich: Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research; Boston: Museum of Science, 1991.

literature

  • Washburn, Bradford; Freedman, Lew: Bradford Washburn: an extraordinary life . Portland, Or .: WestWinds Press, 2005. ISBN 1-55868-906-0 [English]
  • Washburn, Bradford: With Bradford in the Alps . (Series: What boys tell. Volume 3.) Zurich-Leipzig, Orell Füssli, 1930.
personal data
SURNAME Washburn, Bradford
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Washburn, Henry Bradford Jr. (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American mountaineer, photographer, cartographer, and museum director
DATE OF BIRTH June 7, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Cambridge, Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH January 10, 2007
Place of death Lexington, Massachusetts