Lincoln Ellsworth (May 12, 1880 – May 26, 1951) was an American polar explorer, engineer, surveyor, and writer. He led the first Arctic and Antarctic air crossings.
Early life
Linn Ellsworth was born in Chicago, Illinois on May 12, 1880. His parents were Eva Frances (née Butler) and James Ellsworth, a wealthy coal mine owner and financier. He was named Linn after his uncle William Linn, but changed his name to Lincoln when he was a child.
His mother died in 1888. He took two years longer than usual to graduate, before entering the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale University.
Career
Ellsworth was a surveyor and engineer with a team conducting the first Canadian Grand Pacific Railroad survey from 1902 to 1907.
A long article in the same edition (by Fitzhugh Green, one of Byrd's navy colleagues) was headed "Massed Attack On Polar Region Begins Soon." The aircraft, named Polar Star, was a Northrop Gamma outfitted with skis.
On November 23, 1935, Ellsworth discovered the Ellsworth Mountains of Antarctica when he made a trans-Antarctic flight from Dundee Island to the Ross Ice Shelf. He gave the descriptive name Sentinel Range, which was later named for the northern half of the Ellsworth Mountains. During the flight, his aircraft ran out of fuel, forcing a landing near the Little America camp established by Richard Byrd. Because of a faulty radio, he and his pilot, Herbert Hollick-Kenyon, were unable to notify authorities about the landing. The two men were declared missing, and the British research ship Discovery steamed out from Melbourne, Australia to search for them. The two men were discovered on January 16, 1936, after almost two months alone at Little America. They returned to New York City on April 6, and their support ship Wyatt Earp arrived separately two weeks later.
Honors
Ellsworth received honorary degrees from Yale University and Kenyon College. The Boy Scout's Book of True Adventure, Fourteen Honorary Scouts, includes an essay "The First Crossing of the Polar Sea" by Lincoln Ellsworth.
In 1928, Ellsworth was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal that honored both his 1925 and 1926 polar flights. He received the Hubbard Gold Medal from the National Geographic Society in 1936 for his Antarctic expedition and aerial survey. The former Antarctic base Ellsworth Station was named after him. Ellsworth Land, Mount Ellsworth, and Lake Ellsworth, all in Antarctica, are all named for Lincoln Ellsworth. The United States Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp in his honor in 1988. In 1919, the high school athletic teams of Hudson High School in Hudson, Ohio, were nicknamed "The Explorers" after Ellsworth. Hudson's Ellsworth Hill Elementary is also named after him.