Jackie Ronne (October 13, 1919 – June 14, 2009) was an American

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

and the first woman in the world to be a working member of an Antarctic expedition (1947–48). She is also the namesake of the Ronne Ice Shelf.

Biography

Born Edith Ann Maslin on October 13, 1919, in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Ronne spent her first two years in college at the

College of Wooster The College of Wooster is a private liberal arts college in Wooster, Ohio. Founded in 1866 by the Presbyterian Church as the University of Wooster, it has been officially non-sectarian since 1969 when ownership ties with the Presbyterian Church ...

in Wooster, Ohio, and received a degree in history from

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

. After college she worked in the U.S. State Department where she spent five years serving in several different positions from file clerk to International Information Specialist in the Near and Far Eastern Division of Cultural Affairs. She married Finn Ronne on March 18, 1941, and on the expedition of 1946–1948 that her husband commanded, she became the first American woman to set foot on the Antarctic continent. She and

Jennie Darlington Jennie Darlington (née Zobrist, 1924–2017) was an American explorer and, with Jackie Ronne, one of the first women to overwinter on Antarctica, during the winter of 1947-1948. She and Ronne were part of a team that re-occupied a former U.S. sta ...

, the wife of the expedition's chief pilot, became the first women to overwinter in

. They spent 15 months together with 21 other members of the expedition in a small station they had set up As the expedition's recorder & historian, Ronne wrote the news releases for the North American Newspaper Alliance. She also kept a daily history of the expedition's accomplishments, which formed the basis for her husband's book, ''Antarctic Conquest'', published by Putnam in 1949, as well as making routine tidal and seismographic observations. Edith Ronne returned fifteen times to Antarctica, including a Navy-sponsored flight to the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

in 1971 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of

Roald Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Amundsen bega ...

first reaching the South Pole, and a 1995 trip back to her former base at Stonington Island as guest lecturer on the expedition

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

Explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

''. She was a fellow of

The Explorers Club The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904, and has served as a meeting point fo ...

and served as president of the

Society of Woman Geographers The Society of Woman Geographers was established in 1925 at a time when women were excluded from membership in most professional organizations, such as the Explorers Club, who would not admit women until 1981. It is based in Washington, D.C., and h ...

from 1978 to 1981. She died on June 14, 2009, aged 89, from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

Legacy

Edith Ronne Land Edith Ronne Land was the unofficial name of that portion of Antarctica which is bordered by Palmer Land and Ellsworth Land to the West, Coats Land to the East, and the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf to the North. In December 2012, this region was offici ...

was named after her by her husband (Commander Finn Ronne), who mapped the last unknown coastline on earth. When the territory was determined to be mostly ice shelf, the name was changed to Edith Ronne Ice Shelf. At her request, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names removed her first name, so that the Ronne Ice Shelf would correspond to the continent's other large ice shelf, the

Ross Ice Shelf The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica (, an area of roughly and about across: about the size of France). It is several hundred metres thick. The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than long, and between hi ...

and to commemorate all three Ronne explorers including her father-in-law,

Martin Rønne Martin Richard Rønne (September 15, 1861 – May 15, 1932) was a Norwegian sail maker and polar explorer. Rønne was born in Hamar. He took part in Roald Amundsen's expedition to Antarctica in 1910–1912, where he was one of those that remained ...

, a member of

Amundsen's South Pole expedition The first ever expedition to reach the South Pole, geographic Southern Pole was led by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. He and four others arrived at the pole on 14 December 1911, five weeks ahead of a British party led by Robert Falcon ...

. Ronne was the recipient of a special Achievement Award from Columbian College of George Washington University and dedicated a Polar Section to the National Naval Museum.

Bibliography

* Ronne, Edith. ''Antarctica's First Lady'' (2004)Biography

References

External links

Obituary

* ttp://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-ronne2112896513jun18,0,6925061.story Obituary
Wall Street Journal Obituary

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ronne, Edith 1919 births 2009 deaths Explorers of Antarctica Explorers of the Arctic Female polar explorers American women travel writers Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Neurological disease deaths in Maryland Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf Queen Elizabeth Land American travel writers Fellows of the Explorers Club Columbian College of Arts and Sciences alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery