Black History: Matthew Henson

Matthew Henson was born in Charles County, Maryland, on August 8, 1866. He was an African American explorer best known as the co-discoverer of the North Pole with Robert Edwin Peary in 1909.

Henson lost both parents at an early age. At the age of 12, he started working as a cabin boy on a ship. He worked there for six years and learned literacy and navigation skills from his mentor Captain Childs. When Captain Childs died, Henson moved to Washington, D.C and worked as a store clerk for a furrier. That is where he met explorer and officer in the U.S. Navy Corps of Civil Engineers, Robert Edwin Peary. Peary hired Henson as his valet for his travel expeditions. For over two decades, they explored the Arctic, and on April 6, 1909, Peary, Henson and the rest of their team made history, becoming the first people to reach the North Pole, at least they claimed to.

Due to the times, Peary received many praises and accolades for the accomplishment, but Henson being an African American, was largely overlooked. In 1912, Henson recorded his Arctic memoirs in the book A Negro Explorer at the North Pole. In 1937, a 70-year-old Henson finally received the acknowledgements he deserved. The highly regarded Explorers Club in New York accepted him as an honorary member, and in 1946, the U.S. Navy awarded him a medal. He also received a cherished gold medal from the Chicago Geographic Society. The following year, he worked with Bradley Robinson to write his biography, Dark Companion. Matthew Henson died in NYC on March 9, 1955.