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Friends of Arctic exploration and discovery, with whom I have come in contact, and many whom I know only by letter, have been greatly interested in the fact of a colored man being an effective member of a serious Arctic expedition, and going north, not once, but numerous times... Read Full Overview

"A record of courage and fidelity." -Education Department Bulletin, New York State Library "Many books have been written to commemorate a smaller event than a visit to the North Pole. Matthew A. Henson had been Rear-Admiral Peary's body-servant for twenty-one years and his companion... Read Full Overview

A Negro Explorer at the North Pole (1912) is a memoir by Matthew Henson. Published a few years following an expedition to the planet's northernmost point-which he claims to have reached first-A Negro Explorer at the North Pole reflects on Henson's outsized role... Read Full Overview

"Henson must go with me. I cannot make it without him."
Rear Admiral Robert Edwin Peary

When Robert F. Peary claimed discovery of the North Pole on April 6, 1909, the only other American to stand beside him was a black man, Matthew A. Henson. A native of Charles County, Maryland, Henson accompanied Peary on eight Arctic journeys between 1891 and 1909. His skill... Read Full Overview

A Negro Explorer at the North Pole (1912) is a memoir by Matthew Henson. Published a few years following an expedition to the planet's northernmost point-which he claims to have reached first-A Negro Explorer at the North Pole reflects on Henson's outsized role... Read Full Overview

One of the first questions which Commander Peary was asked when he returned home from his long, patient, and finally successful struggle to reach the Pole was how it came about that, beside the four Esquimos, Matt Henson, a Negro, was the only man to whom was accorded the honor... Read Full Overview