BRADFORD WASHBURN - AUTOGRAPH 11/06/1987 - HFSID 201363

BRADFORD WASHBURN. Signature: "Bradford Washburn/Belmont Mass/Nov. 6, 1987" as Honorary Director of the Boston Museum of Science, 5x3 card. Henry Bradford Washburn (1910-2007), who was an acclaimed explorer, mountaineer, photographer and cartographer, was the Director of the Boston Museum of Science from 1939-1980. In 1985, he was given a lifetime appointment as Honorary Director of the Museum, which had become a first-class institution under Washburn's leadership. Washburn, one of America's leading mountaineers from the 1920s through the 1950s, made a number of first ascents on major Alaskan peaks, and he was a pioneer in the use of aerial photography to analyze mountain peaks and plan mountaineering expeditions. In addition to his photographs, Washburn's maps of such peaks as Mount McKinley and Mount Everest are considered the finest ever made. All the more remarkable is that his Everest map and further work on the elevation and geology of Mount Everest were done when Washburn was in his 70s and 80s. He was recognized with a number of honorary doctorates and awards over the course of his career, including the Centennial Award of the National Geographic Society, which he shared with his wife, Barbara, who had been the first woman to reach the summit of Mount McKinley. Slightly creased. Ink notes (unknown hand) on verso (light show through at upper left corner and lower margin. Fine condition.