On July 9, 1964, Dr. Charles Madison Crenchaw became the first Black person to climb to summit of Mount McKinley, the highest peak in North America, now formally called Denali.
Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Crenchaw was a member of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. As a flight engineer, he maintained the aircraft that flew bomber escort missions over Germany. In civilian life he received a PhD from the University of Chicago and worked for the Boeing Corporation on the Apollo project to put a man on the moon.
As an avid outdoorsman and alpinist in the State of Washington and a member of the Seattle Mountaineers, Crenchaw was invited to take part in the 37th expedition to climb McKinley. Just 7 days after the signing of the Civil Right Act of 1964 Crenchaw personified the metaphoric dream defined less than a year earlier by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the March on Washington. A Black man at the height of the Jim Crow era let his freedom ring from the mountainside.
The Joy Trip Project celebrates the enduring legacy of Black American History. The Unhidden Minute is part of the Unhidden Podcast Project supported through a National Geographic Explorer Grant from the National Geographic Society, with the cooperation of the National Park Service. This series elevates the untold stories of Black American historical figures, events and cultural contributions.
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Dr. Charles Madison Crenchaw