Lure of the Unknown

The 20th Century Renown Adventurer and Explorer--Harriet Chalmers Adams

By: Durlynn Anema Ph.D.

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Harriet Chalmers Adams was one of the most remarkable women of the early 20th century, yet few people today know of her exploits. She had always dreamed of adventure as she explored California and The West on horseback with her father, read her world geography book, and watched the ships of many nations enter Stockton harbor. Her dream became reality when she married Frank Adams. While they often traveled together she also was solo on many adventures traveling, at great peril, through some of the most treacherous parts of the globe. An explorer who traveled over 40,000 miles in Central and South America, Harriet also was a top lecturer for National Geographic Society, a war correspondent during World War I, a founder/first president of the Society of Woman Geographers, and writer of articles published not only in the United States but throughout the Western World. In 1911, she was the first woman to speak at the opening ceremonies of the Associated Advertising Clubs of America. Harriet fulfilled her dreams of travel and left her mark throughout the world -- not to be forgotten but to be admired because she respected both the beauty of the world’s nature and the generosity of its inhabitants.