Brad Washburn

On a flight to Philadelphia in November 1938, Washburn happened to meet John K. Howard, President of the Boston Society of Natural History, who was looking for help in saving the Society’s New England Museum of Natural History. Washburn was interested in the offer, which offered him more stability than his lecturing work at Harvard, and on March 1, 1939 he became Director of the Museum.

Soon after, Washburn met Barbara Polk, a Smith College graduate hired as his secretary. They were married on April 27, 1940 and raised three children together. Barbara accompanied her husband on many of his cartographic and mountaineering expeditions, beginning with a first ascent of Mount Bertha, Alaska on their honeymoon. Notably, Barbara was the first woman to summit Denali, a feat she accomplished while accompanying Brad on a 1947 expedition called “Operation White Tower.”

From 1942 through 1945, Washburn temporarily left his post at the Museum to serve as a civilian adviser for the United States Air Corps, where he participated in field tests of cold weather equipment in Alaska. After the war, Washburn returned to the New England Museum of Natural History, which was suffering from low attendance, budget problems, and an antiquated facility. Upon his return, he soon convinced the trustees of the Museum that the best solution would be to close down the old Museum, seek out a new site, and construct a new Museum that encompassed all of the sciences, not just natural history. In December, 1948, the Museum signed a 99-year lease with the Metropolitan District Commission (at one dollar per year) for a park site on the Charles River Dam, which was dubbed “Science Park.”

The first building of the Museum of Science opened its doors on March 12, 1951. Throughout the next 30 years Washburn proved to be an able fundraiser; among the major donors he solicited were: the Charles Hayden Foundation (which funded the construction of the Hayden Planetarium), Mrs. Elihu Thomson (whose late husband would become the namesake of the Theatre of Electricity), and the Countway Charitable Foundation (which contributed a large sum to the completion of the Museum’s central building).

In 1957, Brad and Barbara took an extended trip across Europe to tour over two dozen museums and learn as much as they could about exhibit design, construction, budget strategies, and educational philosophies. This trip contributed to a body of knowledge that made Washburn a respected figure in the field of museum administration. He was in frequent communication with other museum directors and served on planning and advisory boards for numerous institutions, including the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, Washington. To honor Washburn’s 25th anniversary at the Museum, the Board of Trustees established the Bradford Washburn Award in 1964. The Award is given annually to an individual in recognition of significant contributions to the public understanding and appreciation of science. Recipients of the Award during Washburn’s tenure included: Jacques Yves Cousteau (1965), Jane Goodall and Hugo Van Lawick (joint recipients, 1974), and Arthur C. Clarke (1977).

During his time at the Museum of Science Washburn still found opportunities to pursue mountaineering, photography, and cartography. Notable achievements include: completing a new map of Denali based on aerial photographs in 1960, leading a 1965 mapping expedition to Mount Kennedy (a mountain in the Yukon named as a memorial to the President), and conducting surveying trips to the Grand Canyon that culminated in the publication of two new maps in 1978 and 1981.

After 41 years as the Director of the Museum of Science, Washburn retired in 1980. In his retirement, he continued his involvement in the Museum of Science for the rest of his life, acting as Chairman of the Corporation, then Honorary Director, and finally Founding Director. He also continued to pursue his career in cartography. Most significantly, he led a 1984 National Geographic effort to produce a highly-detailed map of Mount Everest through the use of aerial photography and GPS.

Bradford Washburn died on January 10, 2007 in Lexington, Massachusetts. He was survived by Barbara (who passed in 2014), their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.