| The First Person to Reach the North Pole
Matthew Henson was born August 6, 1866, in Charles County Maryland to free African American parents. At age 13, he began working on a ship based in
Baltimore. The ship’s captain taught him to read, write, and navigate. Henson left the job due to racist treatment he received from many of the ship’s crewmembers. He later worked as a store clerk in
Washington, DC where he met Robert Peary who hired him as a valet.
Henson and Peary were together on eight arctic expeditions over 22 years. On April 6, 1909, while on an expedition to the North Pole, Henson and four Inuit men, Ookeah, Oatah, Egingwah and Seeglow, arrived at the North Pole, some 45 minutes ahead of Peary. In a National Geographic article, Profile: African-American North Pole Explorer Matthew Henson by Anna Brendle, dated January 15, 2003, Ms. Brendle reported that Henson greeted Peary by saying, “I think I’m the first man on top of the world.” According to Ms. Brendle, Peary became angry and would not speak to Henson afterwards.
Matthew Henson died in 1955 and was buried at
Woodlawn
Cemetery in
New York City. In 1968, his wife, Lucy Ross was laid to rest in Woodlawn close to her husband. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan granted permission for both bodies to be reinterred in Arlington Cemetery, at the request of Harvard Professor, Dr. S. Allen Counter. They were reinterred near the graves of Robert Peary and his wife Josephine Deibitsch Peary.
In 2000, Matthew Alexander Henson was posthumously awarded the Hubbard Medal, National Geographic's highest honor. His great niece, Audrey Mebane accepted the award on his behalf.
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PICTURES:
First: Matthew Henson, (public domain) and his grave marker.
Second: Memorials to Matthew Henson, Robert Peary, and monument to Robert Peary.
Pictures taken April 30, 2010. Black and white Public Domain.
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SOURCES:
Internet
"Matthew Henson." findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=474, Web. 15 Apr. 2010.
"Matthew Alexander Henson." Arlington Cemetery Website, arlingtoncemetery.net/mhenson.htm, Web. 15 Apr. 2010.
Michael E. Ross, "Black Man on Top of the World", theroot.com/articles/culture/2009/04/matthew_hensons_great
_exploration.html, Web. 15 Apr. 2010.
Brendle, Anna. "Profile: African-American North Pole Explorer Matthew Henson." news.nationalgeographic.com/
news/2003/01/0110_030113_henson.html, Web. 15 Apr. 2010.
Site Visits
Matthew Henson gravesite. Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA. 30 Apr. 2010.
Robert Peary gravesite. Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA. 30 Apr. 2010.
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INTERRED:
Arlington
National
Cemetery.
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SUBMITTED: May 1, 2010.
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