Photograph of Clara Ueland, ca. 1890.

Clara Ueland, ca. 1890.

Clara Ueland, ca. 1890.

Photograph of Clara Ueland, ca. 1918.

Clara Ueland

Clara Ueland, ca. 1918.

Ueland, Clara (1860–1927)

Clara Ueland was a lifelong women’s rights activist and prominent Minnesotan suffragist. She was president of the Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association when the nineteenth amendment was passed in 1919. That same year, she also became the first president of the Minnesota League of Women’s Voters.

Photograph of Cora Best's Ice Axe

Cora Best's ice axe

Personalized ice axe used by Cora Johnstone Best. The blade is inscribed with her name. Axes of this type were used by early mountaineers to cut steps in ice and snow. The broken handle pictured here would have originally been approximately four feet long. Used with the permission of the photographer, Cheryl Jacklin-Piraino.

Photograph of Ice Cave at Starbird Glacier

Ice Cave at Starbird Glacier

Dr. Cora Johnstone Best (right) and mountaineer Conrad Kain standing atop a rocky outcropping near Starbird Glacier in British Columbia, Canada, 1923. The photo was taken by Best’s climbing partner, Audrey Shippam. The scene was photographed simultaneously by Byron Harmon, and his shot is the one of the most iconic pictures in Canadian Alpine history.

Cora Johnstone Best’s autograph

Cora Johnstone Best’s autograph

Autograph of Cora Best that reads, “Yours ‘till the bears get me, Cora Johnstone Best.” Found on the interior of a Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies pamphlet, ca. 1924.

Picture of Cora Johnstone Best lead-climbing an ice route

Cora Johnstone Best lead-climbing an ice route

Cora Johnstone Best lead-climbing an ice route in the Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada, near Jumbo Mountain. Photograph by Audrey Shippam, ca. 1923.

Photograph of Cora Johnstone Best at Lake of the Hanging Glaciers

Cora Johnstone Best at Lake of the Hanging Glaciers

Cora Johnstone Best at Lake of the Hanging Glaciers, near Windermere, British Columbia, Canada. Photograph by Audrey Shippam, 1923.

Photograph of Cora Best

Cora Johnstone Best

Cora Johnstone Best, ca. 1930.

Best, Dr. Cora Johnstone (1884–1930)

Minneapolis-born Cora Johnstone Best achieved international success as a mountaineer during the 1920s. She was a pioneer in the sport, becoming a licensed guide at a time when women were rarely given the opportunity to be lead climbers.

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