She became the first woman to fly over the North Pole in 1955, after privately chartering a DC-4 and crew that included aviation pioneers Thor Solberg and Paul Mlinar.

During World War II, Boyd led a scientific expedition to obtain data on radio-wave transmission in the Arctic regions and worked on secret assignments for the U.S. Department of the Army.

The Boyds were leading citizens of the era and their children's early years, though privileged and relatively carefree, included a well-rounded education that was punctuated every summer by an extended stay on their ranch in the Oakland Hills.

It was here where Boyd and her brothers rode horses, explored Mount Diablo, fished, hunted, camped, and generally led a rugged and adventurous life.

In the spring of 1919, Boyd took a train to Buffalo, New York, purchased a touring car, and accompanied by her chauffeur, drove across the United States at a time when there was no highway system and roads were often gravel and dirt.

Boyd photographed, surveyed and collected hundreds of botanical specimens, under the tutelage of her good friend, Alice Eastwood of the California Academy of Sciences.

For her leadership and scientific work, Boyd was awarded the prestigious Cullum Medal by the American Geographical Society (AGS) a few years later in 1938.

In August 1934, after being elected as a delegate to the International Geographical Congress in Warsaw, Poland, Boyd set out on a 3-month journey across the Polish countryside photographing and recording the customs, dress, economy and culture of the many ethnic Poles, Ukrainians, Byelorussians and Lithuanians.

The journey, by car, rail, boat and on foot took her first from Lviv to Kovel (these towns are in Ukraine today), and then to Kobrin – Pinsk – Kletsk – Nesvizh – Slonim (now in Belarus).

The Effie M. Morrissey sailed from Washington DC on June 11, 1941, with Boyd leading a scientific party of four men (including a physician) and a crew of eleven under the command of Capt.

Later in life Louise Boyd was an active and well-known Marin figure and hostess while serving as a member of the executive committee of the San Francisco Symphony.