Born September 16, 1887,
San Rafael, California
Died September 14, 1972,
San Francisco, California

Louise Arner Boyd, an heiress turned Arctic explorer, delighted in living two totally different lives. In San Francisco she was a wealthy socialite. There she entertained lavishly and behaved properly at a time when appearances were all important to a woman’s social standing. In her second life, as an explorer of Greenland, she became a seasoned professional. Often the only woman present on an expedition, she was tough and demanding, enduring with courage the hardships of the Arctic. Leading seven expeditions to this beautiful but dangerous area of the world, Boyd became an acknowledged authority on the eastern shores of Greenland.

Boyd was born on September 16, 1887, at Maple Lawn, an estate in San Rafael, California, now a San Francisco suburb. Her great-grandfather had purchased Maple Lawn 20 years after arriving in California from...