#blackedu Matthew Alexander Henson
August 8, 1866 – March 9, 1955
Henson was an amazing Black American explorer and associate of Robert Peary on various expeditions, the most famous being a 1909 expedition during which he has been the first person to reach the Geographic North Pole.
Many history books teach that Robert Peary became the first man to reach the North Pole, on April 6, 1909.
Many of these same books omit an important member of his team, Matthew Henson. Born on a Maryland farm in 1866, Henson worked as a seaman before accepting employment on a Nicaraguan expedition led by Peary in 1887.
The two worked together for two decades, most of it spent in the Arctic, before mounting their successful bid to reach the North Pole.
As they neared the expedition’s end, Peary fell ill and sent Henson ahead. Henson became the first to reach the pole and planted the American flag, although Peary received most of the acclaim.
When Henson penned the novel A Negro Explorer at the North Pole in 1912, Peary vilified the book and subsequent lecture tours, referring to Henson as no more than a glorified servant.
As Henson told the Boston American in 1910, “After twenty-two years of service with Peary we are now as strangers … From the moment I declared to Commander Peary that I believed we stood upon the Pole he apparently ceased to be my friend.”
Henson passed away in 1955 at the age of 88, but the years since have seen him posthumously given the kind of recognition he was denied during his lifetime, including the naming of a U.S. Navy vessel, the USNS Henson, in his honor.
Peary himself would undoubtedly be surprised to find that Henson’s final resting place in Arlington National Cemetery is very near Peary’s grave.
Henson's exploits and life were portrayed in the 1998 TV movie Glory & Honor. Henson was played by Delroy Lindo, and Henry Czerny played Robert Peary. The film won a Primetime Emmy and a Golden Satellite Award for Lindo's performance as Henson.
