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'Matthew Alexander Henson' (August 8 1866 – March 9, 1955) was an American explorer and long-time companion to Robert Peary; amongst various expeditions, their most famous was a 1909 expedition which claimed to be the first to reach the Geographic North Pole. A black American and an employee of Peary's (who was notoriously difficult with his charges), Henson did not achieve contemporary recognition in an America where racist views were still common.

Contents

Life

Family

Honors

See also

References

External links

Life

Matthew Henson was born on a farm in a rural Maryland county in 1866. He was still a child when his parents Lemuel and Caroline[1] died, and at the age of twelve he went to sea as a cabin boy on a merchant ship. He sailed around the world for the next several years, educating himself and becoming a skilled navigator. Henson met Commander Robert R. Peary in 1888 and joined him on an expedition to Nicaragua. Impressed with Henson’s seamanship, Peary recruited him as a colleague. For years they made many trips together, including Arctic voyages in which Henson traded with the Eskimos and mastered their language, built sleds, and trained dog teams. In 1909, Peary mounted his eighth attempt to reach the North Pole, selecting Henson to be one of the team of six who would make the final run to the Pole. Before the goal was reached, Peary could no longer continue on foot and rode in a dog sled. Various accounts say he was ill, exhausted, or had frozen toes. In any case, he sent Henson on ahead as a scout. In a newspaper interview Henson said: “I was in the lead that had overshot the mark a couple of miles. We went back then and I could see that my footprints were the first at the spot.” Henson then proceeded to plant the American flag. Although Admiral Peary received many honors, Henson was largely ignored and spent most of the next thirty years working as a clerk in a federal customs house in New York. But in 1944 Congress awarded him a duplicate of the silver medal given to Peary. Presidents Truman and Eisenhower both honored him before he died in 1955.
In 1912 Henson wrote the book ''A Negro Explorer at the North Pole'' about his arctic exploration. Later, in 1947 he collaborated with Bradley Robinson on his biography ''Dark Companion''. The 1912 book, along with an abortive lecture tour, enraged Peary who had always considered Henson no more than a servant and saw the attempts at publicity as a breach of faith.[2]
In 1961 an honorary plaque was installed to mark his Maryland birthplace

Family

During their expeditions, both Henson and Peary fathered children with Inuit women, two of whom were brought to the attention of the American public by S. Allen Counter, who met them on a Greenland expedition.
With an Inuit woman named Akatingwah, Matthew Henson fathered his only child, a son named Anaukaq. After 1909 Matthew Henson never saw Akatingwah or his son again, though he did receive updates about them from other explorers for a time. His son Anauakaq, who died in 1987, arrived in the United States with Kali Peary, Robert Peary's son, on May 29 1987, to visit his father's family and grave site. Anaukaq and his wife Aviaq had five sons who, in turn, had many children of their own who still reside in Greenland.
The "discovery" of Anauakaq and Kali and their meeting with their Henson and Peary relatives were documented in a book and documentary entitled ''North Pole Legacy: Black, White and Eskimo''.
Matthew Henson is also a relative of actress Taraji P. Henson ("The Division", ''Hustle & Flow'').

Honors

The Explorers Club, under its "polar" President Vilhjalmur Stefansson, invited Mr. Henson to join its rank in 1937. Eleven years later the Club reconsidered Henson's membership and awarded Matthew Henson its highest rank of Honorary Member, an honor reserved for no more than 20 living members at a time.
On April 6 1988 Henson was reinterred in Arlington National Cemetery near Peary's monument. Many members from his American family and his Inuit family (Anauakaq's children) were in attendance.
In October 1996, the United States Navy commissioned USNS ''Henson'', a ''Pathfinder'' class Oceanographic Survey Ship, in honor of Matthew Henson.
On November 28 2000, the National Geographic Society awarded the Hubbard Medal to Matthew A. Henson posthumously. Dr. S. Allen Counter petitioned the National Geographic Society for many years to present its most prestigious medal to Henson. He attended the ceremony with Mrs. Audrey Mebane, Henson's 74-year-old great-niece. The medal was presented at the newly named Matthew A. Henson Earth Conservation Center (MAHECC) in Washington, D.C., and accompanied a scholarship given in Henson's name by NGS.
The Matthew Henson Earth Conservation Center in Washington, D.C. is named for him, as is Matthew Henson Middle School in Indian Head, Maryland and Matthew Henson Elementary School in Palmer Park, Maryland. Matthew Henson lived for a time in the landmark Dunbar Apartments in Harlem, in New York City.

See also

★ List of firsts

References

★ Infoplease.com (2007). [3]

★ Miles, J. H., Davis, J. J., Ferguson-Roberts, S. E., and Giles, R. G. (2001). Almanac of African American Heritage. Paramus, NJ: Prentice Hall Press.

★ National Geographic (2003). [4]

★ Potter, J. (2002). African American Firsts. New York, NY: Kensington Publishing Corp.

External links

★ Matthew Henson Action Figure

★ "African-American North Pole Explorer Matthew Henson" in ''National Geographic''

★ Arlington Cemetery biography

★ Matthew A. Henson

★ Matthew A. Henson Family Tree

★ Anauakaq's descendants

★ Dr. S. Allen Counter and his efforts on behalf of Matthew A. Henson

★ The Matthew Henson Earth Conservation Center

★ Another article about the Matthew Henson by The Frederick A. Cook Society