Mary Meader

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rachael Mary Upjohn Light Meader

Born	April 15, 1916 Kalamazoo, Michigan
Died	March 16, 2008 Kalamazoo, Michigan
Occupation	Aerial photographer, explorer, and philanthropist

Rachael Mary Upjohn Light Meader (April 15, 1916--March 16, 2008) was an American aerial photographer and explorer. Heir to the Upjohn Company fortune, she is best known in aerial circles for her 1937-1938 35,000-mile (56,000 km) flight in which she photographed unprecedented images of South America and Africa. Her African photographs were later featured in the book Focus on Africa. In her later years, she also became known in her native Kalamazoo, Michigan, for her immense philanthropy to Western Michigan University, the University of Michigan, and various Kalamazoo charities.

1 Early life
2 The flight
3 Later life and philanthropy
4 References

[edit] Early life

Mary Meader was born to William H. and Genevieve Upjohn in Kalamazoo, Michigan on April 15, 1916.^[1]^[2] She was a grandchild of Dr. W. E. Upjohn, the founder of the pharmaceutical Upjohn Company.^[1] Meader was a language major at Smith College, specializing in French and Spanish, though she dropped out to marry Dr. Richard Upjohn Light, a neurosurgeon and her first cousin.^[1] Since the two could not legally marry in Michigan, they moved to Maryland, where they married in 1937.^[1]

[edit] The flight

Dr. Light was well known among flying enthusiasts for his 1934 around-the-world flight and wanted to approximate the same to celebrate their marriage.^[1] While planning the trip, many parts of the world had not been photographed from above and the American Geographical Society encouraged photographic flights to build an archive of aerial views.^[1] His idea was to fly over areas of South America and Africa that had never been captured on film from the air and Meader was happy to go along with it.^[1]

Meader had to take flying lessons and learn morse code in able to become her husband's co-pilot, navigator, and radio operator.^[1] During training, she gave birth to her first son, Christopher.^[1] In an interview with Encore Magazine in 2006, when asked why she decided to take the journey, she replied:

"It just seemed like a great adventure—something I wanted to do. Why? I'm not certain, other than we both knew we would be doing something that hadn't been done before."^[1]

The two Lights took off out of Kalamazoo in September 1937 in a Bellanca monoplane, whose cabin lacked heat and pressurization.^[1] To survive, they had to breathe oxygen from a tank with wooden mouthpieces.^[1] Wearing a fur coat and boots, Meader took photographs out of a window frame.^[1]

The Lights were banned from photographing Central America (except Guatemala), Ecuador, and Colombia, to prevent the gathering of strategic knowledge.^[3] They, however, were allowed to take pictures over Peru, and took the earliest photographs of the Nazca lines.^[1] While unable to distinguish from the ground, from the air the designs range from simple patterns to hummingbirds and llamas.^[1]

After photographing South America, the couple crossed the Atlantic to Cape Town, South Africa.^[1] While there, she photographed the ice dome and crater of Mount Kilimanjaro and the glaciated pinnacles of Mount Kenya.^[1] In addition, her photographs include different views of native villages, urban areas, and the Egyptian pyramids, as well as several other subjects.^[1] On an average day they would rise at 4 a.m. and fly until 11 a.m, after which they would visit the farms, mines, and native settlements that would be photographed the next day.^[1]

The couple's original plan was to fly into Asia; however, this was not accomplished due to the damaging of the plane and Meader's pregnancy with a second child.^[1] The two returned to Kalamazoo in February 1938.^[1] In all, Meader took over 2,000 photographs in her two flights.^[4]

[edit] Later life and philanthropy

Three hundred twenty-three of Meader's African photos were included in Focus on Africa, a 1941 book written by her husband and published by the American Geographical Society.^[3] The book was only their second which included aerial photos; the first was Peru from the Air by George R. Johnson and published in 1930.^[3] A review of the book by Mary L. Jobe Akeley of the New York Times called her pictures "superb".^[1] In addition, the photos have been featured in several exhibitions over the years.^[4]

Meader was a member of the Society of Woman Geographers since 1942, whom granted her the Outstanding Achievement Award for her pioneering aerial photography in 2005.^[3] Light and Meader divorced in the early 1960s.^[1] In 1965, Meader married Edwin Meader, a geography professor.^[1] The new couple settled on a farm outside of Kalamazoo, and according to Diether Haenicke, "for years their barn loft was one of Kalamazoo's foremost intellectual meeting places".^[5] They donated millions of dollars to Western Michigan University, the University of Michigan, and various Kalamazoo charities.^[1] Mrs. Meader traveled to an elementary school to teach children how to read into her 70s.^[1]

One of her largest gifts was her donation of $4 million to Western Michigan University.^[2] It resulted in the creation of the W.E. Upjohn Center for the Study of Geographical Change, after her grandfather.^[2] It digitizes maps and aerial photographs from all over the world and documents and evaluates geographic changes.^[2] She also donated $1 million gift to WMU's Waldo Library for a library renovation in the early 1990s and helped construct the W.H. Upjohn Rotunda, which was named after Meader's father.^[6] The Edwin and Mary Meader Rare Book Room was later dedicated to the library.^[6]

On November 21, 2006, Meader was named an honorary member of the American Geographical Society and was invited to sign her name on its Fliers' & Explorers' Globe.^[1]^[4] It was part of a tradition spanning from to the 1920s in which noted explorers are asked to place their signature on the Globe.^[1] Meader was the 79th.^[1]^[4] Other signers of the globe include Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Sir Edmund Hillary, Robert Perry, Richard Byrd, and the astronauts on Apollo 8.^[4] Meader was one of 3 people to sign it twice; across East Africa and the Andes.^[1]

Mary Meader died on March 16, 2008 in Kalamazoo at the age of 91.^[1] Her husband died one year before.^[1] Survivors include sons Christopher, Timothy, and John, of Kalamazoo, and Rudolph, of Ukiah, California; seven grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.^[1]