Born in Philadelphia, PA in 1871, Dora Keen was the daughter of the surgeon William Williams Keen. Her father was the very first brain surgeon in the U.S. and was the doctor who diagnosed U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s polio. Her father was a close friend and doctor to six presidents and participated in a secret surgical operation to remove a cancerous jaw tumor on U.S. President Grover Cleveland in 1893.
As was almost customary in the day of the well-heeled society youth of Philadelphia, Dora Keen travelled a good deal. In her travels, she covered the North American continent from Alaska to Panama, both coasts of South America and the interior of the southern portion, eastern, western, and southern Asia and northern Africa; and she made numerous visits to Europe.
Her activity as an alpinist began with eight ascents of first-class peaks in the Alps in 1909 to 1910. In the midsummer of 1911, her inadequately outfitted expedition was hastily organized for the ascent of Mount Blackburn in the Wrangell Mountains, 16,140 ft., in Alaska. Here the group traverses some crevasses.
This photo came from the archives and collections of the Cordova Historical Society housed within the museum. The museum is open 10 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and noon to 5:00 p.m. Saturdays.
In the Copper River Gallery – The annual Iceworm Photo Show!!
