Edith ”Jackie” Ronne, a Baltimore native, never expected to accompany her husband’s scientific expedition to Antarctica in 1947. Joining that excursion meant that she was the first American woman to land in the frozen south. Ronne insisted that the chief pilot’s wife, Jennie Darlington, go along as well and the two women helped calm many tense and argumentative times during their fifteen-month stay. Edith was the trip’s recorder and historian, describing the continent’s natural beauty in the book, “Antarctica’s First Lady.”
The trip was considered a scientific success, proving that Antarctica was all in one continent. Edith’s husband, Captain Ronne, named the newly discovered territory the Ronne Ice Shelf. Edith lectured widely and became president of the Society of Women Geographers.
Submitted by: Linda Shevitz and Jill Moss Greenberg
