Tag Archives: BARBARA HILLARY

THE AMERICAN BLACKSTORY 2022

DAY 2 — Barbara Hillary

Now on the other side of the ceremony from where she’d once stood, Barbara Hillary captivated fresh New School graduates with 88 years worth of experience boiled down into a 10-minute commencement speech.

Among so many gems, one piece of advice stood out: “At every phase in your life, look at your options. Please, do not select boring ones.”

Oh, sure.

No problem, ONLY Black woman in the world known to set foot on both the North AND South Poles.

Before we proceed, a little perspective.

Matthew Henson, Black American explorer is photographed in tight frame, in a hooded fur parka, exposing only his mustached face.
Matthew Henson, photographed in 1910.

One of the first men ever recorded at the North Pole was free Black American Matthew Henson in 1909.

In 1986, the first woman accomplished the feat.

George W. Gibbs became the first African-American in the Antarctic as a member of Admiral James Byrd’s third expedition to the South Pole in 1939.

Nearly a century after Henson’s journey, Dwayne Fields was the first Black Briton to follow suit in 2010.

And that’s it. That’s the summation of Black diversity at the Poles. 

(Ed. Note: Here comes the part where you feel ashamed of yourself and your boring choices, so you’ve been warned.)

For Barbara Hillary to have done so at the age of 79, becoming the first Black woman to visit either pole AND both, as well as the first Black person to visit both, is nothing short of astonishing.

Even before her adventures, Barbara had already lived a life beyond most folks’ expectations.

“We were Depression-poor,” she said in her commencement address, “but there was no such thing as mental poverty in our home.”

That mindset had propelled her through a Master’s degree from the New School, a 55-year long career as a nurse, and not one, but two separate bouts with cancer, the last of which had left her with 25% reduced breathing capacity. 

But the last thing anyone expected was a trip to the North Pole.

And with good reason. One does not simply GO to a Pole. Barbara grew up in Harlem, where cross-country skiing, a necessity to cross the pole’s frozen terrain, was hardly second-nature. Her nurse’s salary, swallowed by medical costs, didn’t leave much for globe-trotting. And the physical toll dealt by polar regions is unlike any other in the world.

Barbara, in a red and black snow jacket and wide goggles, smiles with her hands raised above her head in celebration. She isn't wearing gloves.
That feeling when you forgot you were at the North Pole.

Barbara found out first-hand when she overcame all of those obstacles to arrive at the North Pole on April 23, 2007. She took her gloves off for just a minute to celebrate, left with frostbite as a souvenir, and the frigid travel bug too.

Less than 4 years later, on January 6, 2011, Barbara landed on the South Pole, where she skipped the frostbite, celebrating with chocolate instead. It’s not that chocolate has any secret warming properties, but when you’re a 79 year old Black lady at the South Pole, nothing’s taken for granted. Barbara explains, “If I had frozen to death down there, wouldn’t it be sad if I’d gone to hell without getting what I want?”

A figure clad in a blue snow jacket with yellow layers underneath and a face shield on, stands in front of a sign that reads "Geographic South Pole."
Lessons were learned.

Thankfully, Barbara didn’t freeze to death down there, else this would be a terrible story.

But her journeys to far-flung places soon revealed one. Inspired to continue adventuring beyond the Poles, Barbara discovered climate change closing chapter after chapter on small, indigenous communities as old as the world itself, forcing them into poverty, starvation, relocation, or dissolution altogether.

For the next 11 years, she turned her adventuring spirit into a boon for those communities, using her newfound fame to bring visibility and aid to Mother Earth’s First People in places like Manitoba and Outer Mongolia. As a descendant of the Gullah Geechee, the Atlantic Lowcountry’s coastal people known for their African traditions, it’s no surprise that she’d have a special place in her heart for those preserving ancient culture at the outskirts of the world.

Barbara in a blue beanie and blue jacket, stands next to a Mongolian woman in a fur hat, coat, and falconers glove and a Mongolian man in a brown beanie and black coat. They are laughing together with a desert and mountain ridge behind them.
One of Ms. Barbara’s favorite people was Akelik (center), one of the few indigenous female falconers left in the world. (Their guide and translator Tudevee stands right.)

In 2019, the 88-year-old wanderer left her earthbound body, still dreaming of where to next. “I find that it’s like looking at a great dessert in the window of a store and saying, ‘I’m going to have that.’ And if I don’t? Look at all the people who have unbelievably boring lives…” she mused. “Am I a hopeless dreamer, or was I born at the wrong time?”

Surely both are options.

KEEP GOING BLACK IN HISTORY:

Listen in on Ms. Barbara’s commencement speech. Her smile alone makes it worth it.
Barbara and a man sit on folding lounge chairs between two yurts in Mongolia.

In case you didn’t notice, Ms. Barbara Hillary was a spitfire of a lady and her personality absolutely shines in this article detailing her accomplishments by the New Yorker.

Do yourself a favor and head on over to Ms. Barbara’s website for a full rundown of all her accomplishments and stunning accolades.