In 1905 Mina Benson Hubbard became the first white woman to cross Labrador, completing the expedition that had led to her husband's death. The Woman Who Mapped Labrador makes available for the first time the unguarded and personal diary that was the basis for her famous book, A Woman's Way Through Unknown Labrador. Three specialists have combined their expertise to enhance the richness of this original source. Roberta Buchanan's annotation of Hubbard's expedition diary makes it accessible to contemporary readers. Anne Hart's biography illuminates an Edwardian woman's transformation from teacher, nurse, and devoted wife to courageous explorer and social activist. Bryan Greene's discussion of Hubbard's navigational, cartographic, and topographical techniques shows her to have been a serious explorer. His nineteen newly drawn maps make it possible to follow her journey in detail. In her diary Hubbard's full enthusiasm for the Labrador wilderness shines through her descriptions of the great caribou migration, the Montagnais/Naskapi Indians (Innu), and life at a Hudson's Bay post. She also reveals in frank detail the difficulties of asserting her authority as a female expedition leader and her satisfaction at beating out her male rival, Dillon Wallace.

Sherrill E. Grace is professor, English, University of British Columbia, and the author of Inventing Tom Thomson and Canada and the Idea of North. She is currently working as a consultant on a film about Mina Benson Hubbard.

Mina Benson Hubbard's profile page

"Compared to previous books, this is a more human document with Hubbard's enthusiasm given full rein and never a moment of boredom." Gwyneth Hoyle, co-author of Canoeing North into the Unknown: A Record of River Travel, 1874 to 1974 and research associate

"The authors seamlessly weave together equally compelling elements so that the book becomes greater than the sum of its parts and a model for interdisciplinary cooperation." Carolyn Podruchny, history, York University