Boyd, Louise Arner (1887-1972), was an American woman who explored the Arctic at a time when most Arctic explorers were men. Boyd’s expeditions provided valuable scientific information about eastern Greenland, the floor of the Greenland Sea, and the waters north of Scandinavia. Boyd’s work also aided the United States war effort during World War II (1939-1945). In 1955, she became the first woman to fly over the North Pole.
Boyd was born into a wealthy family on Sept. 16, 1887, in San Rafael, California. Boyd’s entire family had died by 1920, and she inherited the family fortune. Boyd first became interested in the Arctic in 1924, when she took a Norwegian cruise. In 1926, Boyd hired a ship and traveled on a hunting trip to Franz Josef Land, a group of islands in the Arctic Ocean. While there, she took numerous films and photographs of the region. In 1928, during another Arctic expedition, Boyd and her crew joined an unsuccessful search for the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, who had disappeared. For her participation in this mission, Boyd became the first foreign woman to receive Norway’s Chevalier Cross of the Order of St. Olav. This medal is one of Norway’s highest honors.
Boyd conducted most of her scientific research on four trips in 1931, 1933, 1937, and 1938. Boyd and her crew studied and recorded data on the fiords (long, narrow bays), glaciers, topography (surface features), and wildlife of eastern Greenland. They also mapped the ocean floor beneath the Greenland Sea and explored areas north of Scandinavia.
During World War II, Boyd served as an adviser on the Arctic to the U.S. War Department. In 1941, the U.S. government asked Boyd to study the effects of atmospheric conditions on radio transmissions in the region between Greenland, Baffin Island, and Labrador.
Boyd’s flight over the North Pole was her final Arctic adventure. In 1960, she became the first woman appointed to the council of the American Geographic Society. This scientific and educational organization had sponsored some of her expeditions. Boyd died on Sept. 14, 1972. Her books include The Fiord Region of East Greenland (1935) and The Coast of Northeast Greenland (1948).
