Why matthew henson is famous

In his account of the adventure The Negro at the North Pole published in Henson made a detailed summary of the five-day march. He, Peary, and Inuits Ooqueah, Ootah, Egingwah, and Seegloo drove the five remaining dog sledges at a breakneck pace day after day for stretches that lasted 12 to 14 hours.

Moving quickly to avoid the possibility of a massive lead opening up behind them and blocking their way back home they traveled more than miles. In a series of hard pushes they made their way navigating by sexton and dead-reckoning until finally on April 6th, as conditions on the trail ahead seemed to improve Henson reported in his account that he felt certain their objective was within reach. Estimating the distance that we had come during the last four days, we figured that, unless something unusual happened to us during the course of this day, we should be at the Pole before its close.

According to his own recollection Henson was in the lead sledge through much of the day scouting the trail ahead. So we went to work and promptly built our igloos, fed our dogs and had dinner. The sun being obscured by the mist, it was impossible to make observations and tell whether or not we had actually reached the Pole.

The only thing we could do was to crawl into our igloos and go to sleep. The following day when the mist had cleared Peary took measurements of their location relative to the position of the sun at the noon hour. The party had indeed reached the North Pole. But the question remained who had arrived there first. Upon their return to the United States some reports in the press indicated that there was tension between Peary and Henson as to whom between them deserved credit for reaching the North Pole first.

It seems odd that after such a long and successful partnership the two men would become estranged from one another. With a difference of a few hours at most it would be reasonable to give Peary and Henson equal credit for having reached the North Pole together as a team. But the racially divisive climate of time would not give an African-American man the same standing in the public eye for the accomplishment of such a monumental feat of human achievement.

Peary was the recognized discoverer of the Pole while Henson was relegated to the role of trusty companion. A member of a previous Greenland expedition, a man by the name of Frederick Cook, professed to have reached the North Pole one year earlier on April 21, Unfortunately many doubts were raised to suggest that Peary had also failed to reach the North Pole.

Several skeptics speculated that he missed the mark by several hundred miles. With few ways to verify the success of this kind of remote expedition reports of a successful outcome were made on the honor system.

Though as a black man his testimony was likely deemed by many to be less than credible the strength of his character as substantiated other members of the party carried a great deal of weight in affirming the truth of their journey to the top of the globe. Robert Perry died on February 20, After returning from his last polar expedition he was promoted to Rear Admiral and traveled the world through his remaining years of life as an acclaimed hero. But history would treat Matthew Henson much differently.

Upon his return from the Pole Henson took a job as a clerk with the federal customs house in New York City, on the recommendation of Theodore Roosevelt. He would spend the next 30 years leading a quiet life in relative seclusion. But in his contributions to the discovery of the North Pole would finally be recognized.

The Explorers Club of New York made him an honorary member. A few years later in Henson was awarded a medal, identical to the one given to Peary, by U. And in he was invited to the White House by President Dwight Eisenhower to receive a special commendation for his early work as an explorer on the behalf of the United States of America.

Perry and Henson went on multiple expeditions. Their very first journey together took them to Nicaragua in Once they returned from this journey, Henson married Eva Flint. Shortly after the wedding, Peary and Henson went forth again, this time to Greenland.

The team again returned to Greenland in They wanted to chart the entire ice cap. This trip almost proved disastrous, as they almost ran out of food and supplies. They actually had to eat all but one of their sled dogs. They would return again in and According to Henson, he was the first of the group to reach the North Pole. Matthew Henson was born in Charles County, Maryland in His parents were sharecroppers, like many African Americans in the post-Civil War years.

Both died during Henson's childhood. At the age of 12, he went to work as a cabin boy on a merchant ship, having been fascinated by stories of the sea. Aboard the ship for six years, he learned how to read, write and navigate. Later, while working as a clerk in a Washington, D. Peary, who was planning a surveying expedition to Nicaragua. Upon learning of Henson's sailing and navigation experience, Peary hired him as a valet. On the Nicaragua expedition, Henson impressed Peary, and subsequently accompanied him on seven Arctic expeditions between and Triumphant when they returned, Peary received many accolades for his accomplishment, but — an unfortunate sign of the times — as an African American, Henson was largely overlooked.

And while Peary was lauded by many for his achievement, he and his team faced wide skepticism, with Peary having to testify before Congress about allegedly reaching the North Pole due to a lack of verifiable proof. The truth about Peary's and Henson's expedition still remains clouded. Henson spent the next three decades working as a clerk in a New York federal customs house, but he never forgot his life as an explorer. In , a year-old Henson finally received the acknowledgment he deserved: The highly regarded Explorers Club in New York accepted him as an honorary member.

In he and the other members of the expedition were awarded a Congressional Medal. He worked with Bradley Robinson to write his biography, Dark Companion , which was published in The body of his wife, Lucy, was buried beside him in In a move to honor Henson, in , President Ronald Reagan approved the transportation of Henson and Lucy's remains for reinterment at Arlington National Cemetery, per the request of Dr.

Allen Counter of Harvard University. The national cemetery is also the burial site of Peary and his wife, Josephine. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us!