Harriet Chalmers Adams racked up over 100,000 miles of travel and became the most successful adventurer in the world—all during a time period where women weren't even allowed to wear pants.
Harriet never made many statements about being a female explorer in such an oppressive time period as the early 20th century; indeed, it seems she thought very little of her sex for most of her life, instead allowing her experience dictate her success.
When Harriet was 25 years old, she and her husband set out on a three year journey through South America. They set foot in every country and traversed the Andes on horseback. According to the New York Times article about her trip, she set foot in at least "twenty frontiers previously unknown by white women." Take note—this was before the time of air travel, and trains did not cross American borders for some time after her trip. Yet Harriet and her husband had to have averaged about 37 miles a day in order to hit their 40,000 mile mark in three years.
After this trip, Harriet decided to pitch some stories she had written about her travels to National Geographic. Her writing was good, but the editors were more interested in Harriet as a person; she was charming, pretty, and brought not only good writing skills but a unique perspective and excellent humor. Paired her penchant for photography—color photography, at that!—Harriet was a magazine's dream correspondent. She even filmed several movies of her adventures. National Geographic was quick to scoop her up as an essential addition to their team, and for the first 50 years of its existence, she was the most prolific female writer they had.
Harriet continued to travel, write, and take pictures, and her stories and images quickly became well known not only in the world of exploration, but in common life, too. Her international audience was entranced with her wonderful tales about her off-the-beaten-path adventures. She began lecturing all over the world, drawing in audiences of hundreds as she tied her interests in history, geography, and anthropology to her travels.
During World War I, Harriet wrote for Harper's Magazine and was the only woman journalist allowed in the trenches with soldiers. However, she remained National Geographic's secret weapon; in 1935, she wrote 21 articles alone during another trip through South America.
Harriet did not allow her sex to impede her ability to participate within her chosen field. When the American Explorers Club, the most prestigious adventuring society of its time, did not allow Harriet to join because she was a woman, she decided to do something better. She founded her own society just for women, called the Society of Women Geographers.
Upon this occurrence, it seems Harriet did stop for a moment and realize the male-centric world she lived in. However, she still defended her freedom and insisted that she has never felt that she could not attain whatever she wanted.
“I’ve never found my sex a hinderment," she wrote, "never faced a difficulty, which a woman, as well as a man, could not surmount; never felt a fear of danger; never lacked courage to protect myself."
Harriet's accomplishments are especially impressive because they are not just a first for women; they are a first for humankind, in many ways. Harriet was truly a crusader for explorers everywhere, and her adventures, photographs, and stories remain unique and impressive, even 100 years later.
For more reading on this fabulous female figure, check out the links below:
Subscribe to National Geographic to read Harriet's stories and see her photographs.
by Brook Sutton for Adventure Journal
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