Life Story: Ann Bancroft (1955– )

Ann Bancroft was born on September 29, 1955, in Mendota Heights, Minnesota. She was raised in an adventurous white family. Ann spent most of her free time with her parents and three siblings outdoors in rural Minnesota. She would go camping and canoeing with her father from a young age. When she was eight years old, Ann started leading her cousins on mini-expeditions in her own backyard during the cold winter. 

The Bancroft family moved to Kenya when Ann was in the fifth grade. Her father, inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s speeches about the importance of public service and his establishment of the Peace Corps, quit his job and signed up to volunteer as a social worker. Ann’s mother taught English and administrative skills to prepare Kenyan girls for jobs in the city. The family lived in Kenya for two years, and Ann loved her family’s great adventure.

The family returned to Minnesota, and Ann enrolled in seventh grade at a prestigious private school. Academics were challenging for Ann. She struggled with reading and math, despite studying hard to try to overcome her learning challenges. Her teachers recognized that Ann put much effort into her work but did not achieve the expected results. After a round of recommended testing, the school diagnosed Ann with dyslexia.

In the 1960s, learning disabilities were not widely understood or tested for in schools, and there were no special education classes. Ann received extra support in the form of tutoring and summer school, which did not help. The worst part for Ann was that she was no longer allowed to participate in other extracurricular activities because she was scheduled for daily tutoring sessions. 

At the end of tenth grade, the school told Ann she had to repeat the year or leave school without a diploma because of her grades. So she transferred to another school. Title IX had passed recently, which required public universities to provide equal funding for women’s and men’s sports. Ann began teaching other girls in her gym class how to play basketball and started a team. She created their uniforms and set up competitive matches with local schools. Her efforts later led to the school approving funding for other women’s sports teams.

Despite the lack of support she received for dyslexia during her education, Ann graduated from high school and enrolled at the University of Oregon to pursue a degree in education. After graduating in 1981, she became a special education teacher in Minnesota. 

Outside of work, Ann continued to spend time outdoors and play sports. She also taught wilderness skills. This was her true passion and she dreamed of becoming an explorer.

In 1986 Ann quit her teaching position when she received an exciting opportunity. She was invited to participate in the Will Steger International North Pole Expedition. On March 6, she set off with five team members from Ellesmere Island, Canada’s northernmost island. They traveled by dogsled and reached the North Pole after 56 days. Ann was the first woman to make it to the North Pole by sled and on foot. Ms. magazine named her their Woman of the Year in 1987.

Ann knew that women were capable of polar exploration, just like men. She founded the All Women’s Expedition (AWE) Foundation in 1991. Her goal was to raise funds to support an educational expedition to Antarctica led only by women. The educational component would produce a curriculum for teachers about polar exploration to reach over 200,000 students across the world.

In November 1992, she successfully organized the American Women’s Expedition to Antarctica. She led three other women on a journey to Antarctica. They traveled on skis and completed the 660-mile journey after 67 days. It was the first all-female team to reach the South Pole on skis. Ann was the first woman to have traveled to both the North and South Poles.

The group aspired to cross Antarctica. Unfortunately, they could not afford to make the second half of the trip, which required an additional $400,000 to cover insurance and emergency evacuation if needed. Ann hoped that corporate sponsorships would come through once they started their journey, but they weren’t able to raise the funds to complete the trip. 

In 1997, the AWE Foundation decided to shift its focus from inspiring girls and women to become adventurers to encouraging girls to explore and reach their own dreams. The organization’s leaders renamed it the Ann Bancroft Foundation.

Ann wanted to try again to ski across Antarctica and needed a partner. She thought Liv Arnesen, a female explorer from Norway, had the experience. It was Ann’s dream to make this trip not just to make history as two women, but to inspire children. Overcoming her shyness, she wrote a letter to Liv, who agreed to meet. The two women found out they had much in common and they started to plan their trip.

In 2001, Ann and Liv set out on their transcontinental journey across Antarctica. Skiing and sailing, they traveled 1,700 miles in 94 days. They were the first women to ski across Antarctica. 

Ann identifies as bisexual and lives with her longterm partner, Pam Arnold. She became active in the movement for LGBTQ+ rights in her home state of Minnesota. In 2006, a constitutional amendment to the state constitution was proposed that would ban same-sex marriage. Ann spoke out publicly against the proposed amendment. When Minnesota voters rejected the amendment, it was the first state in the country to defeat such a measure. 

In 2007, Ann and Liv participated in another trip, this time to the Arctic Ocean. The goal of the journey was to raise awareness of global warming. Sadly, they had to end their travels when the extreme cold damaged their equipment and gave Liv frostbite in three of her toes.

Ann continues to share her experiences as a public speaker. She has co-written three books about her travels. The 2003 book she published with Liv about their Antarctica journey, No Horizon Is Too Far, won an Amelia Bloomer award, which recognizes feminist books. 

Ann currently lives in Scandia, Minnesota.

• dyslexia: A learning disability that affects the brain and makes it difficult for someone to recognize, spell, and decode words.
• foundation: An organization that raises and provides money for a specific purpose.
• frostbite: A health condition in which parts of the body are seriously damaged due to extreme cold.
• Peace Corps: A U.S. government organization that trains volunteers to provide assistance in developing countries. It was established by President John F. Kennedy in 1961.