Wikipedia

Matthew Henson

Matthew Alexander Henson(August 8, 1866 – March 9, 1955) was an African American explorer who accompaniedRobert Pearyon seven voyages to theArcticover a period of nearly 23 years. They spent a total of 18 years on expeditions together.[1]He is best known for his participation in the 1908–1909 expedition that claimed to have reached thegeographic North Poleon April 6, 1909. Henson said he was the first of their party to reach the North Pole.

Matthew A. Henson
Hensonc. 1910
Born
Matthew Alexander Henson

(1866-08-08)August 8, 1866
Nanjemoy,Maryland, U.S.
DiedMarch 9, 1955(1955-03-09)(aged 88)
The Bronx,New York, US
Resting placeArlington National Cemetery
Known forArctic explorer, claimed as the first to reach thegeographic North Pole
Spouses
Eva Flint
​
(m.1891⁠–⁠1897)​
​
(m.1907)​
  • Akatingwah (concubine)
ChildrenAnauakaq (1906–1987; by Akatingwah)

Henson was born inNanjemoy, Maryland,tosharecropperparents who werefree Black Americansbefore theCivil War.He spent most of his early life inWashington, D.C.,but left school at the age of twelve to work as acabin boy.He later returned to Washington and worked as a salesclerk at a department store. One of his customers was Robert Peary, who in 1887 hired him as a personal valet. At the time, Peary was working on theNicaragua Canal.

Their first Arctic expedition together wasin 1891–92.Henson served as a navigator and craftsman, and was known as Peary's "first man". Like Peary, he studiedInuitsurvival techniques.

During their 1908–09 expedition to Greenland, Henson was one of the six men – including Peary and four Inuit assistants – who claimed to have been the first to reach the geographic North Pole. In interviews, Henson identified as the first member of the party to reach what they believed was the pole. The team's claim had gained widespread acceptance, but, in 1989,Wally Herbertpublished research that found that their expedition records were unreliable and indicated an implausibly high speed during their final rush for the pole, and that the men could have fallen 30–60 miles (48–97 km) short of the pole due to navigational errors.

Henson achieved a degree of fame as a result of participating in the expedition, and in 1912, he published a memoir titledA Negro Explorer at the North Pole.As he approached old age, his exploits received renewed attention. In 1937, he was the first African American to be made a life member ofThe Explorers Club;in 1948, he was elevated to the club's highest level of membership. In 1944, Henson was awarded thePeary Polar Expedition Medal,and he was received at the White House by PresidentsHarry TrumanandDwight Eisenhower.In 1988, he and his wife were re-interred atArlington National Cemetery.[2]In 2000, Henson posthumously was awarded theHubbard Medalby the National Geographic Society.[3]In September 2021, theInternational Astronomical Unionnamed alunar craterafter him.[4]

Early life and education

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Henson was born on August 8, 1866, on his parents' farm east of the Potomac River in Charles County, Maryland to sharecroppers who had beenfree people of colorbefore theAmerican Civil War.[1][5]Matthew's parents were subjected to attacks by theKu Klux Klanand other white supremacist groups, who terrorized southern freedmen and former free people of color after the Civil War.

To escape from racial violence in southern Maryland, the Henson family sold the farm in 1867 and moved to Georgetown, then still an independent town adjacent to the national capital.[6]He had an older sister S., born in 1864, and two younger sisters Eliza and M.[7][failed verification]Matthew's mother died when Matthew was seven. His father Lemuel remarried to a woman named Caroline and had additional children with her, including daughters and a son.

After his father died, Matthew was sent to live with his uncle, who lived in Washington, D.C. (Georgetown was made part of Washington, DC in 1871.) The uncle paid for a few years of education for Matthew but soon died.[1]Henson attended a Black public school for the next six years, during the last of which he took a summer job washing dishes in a restaurant. His early years were marked by one especially memorable event. When he was 10 years old, he went to a ceremony honoring Abraham Lincoln, the American president who had fought so hard to preserve the Union during the Civil War and had issued the proclamation that had freed slaves in the occupied Confederate states in 1863. At the ceremony, Matthew was greatly inspired by a speech given byFrederick Douglass,an escaped slave and renowned orator, the longtime leading figure in the Black American community. Douglass called upon Black people to vigorously pursue educational opportunities and battle racial prejudice.[6][better source needed]

At the age of 12, the youth made his way to Baltimore, Maryland, a busy port. He went to sea as a cabin boy on the merchant shipKatie Hines,traveling to ports in China, Japan, Africa, and the Russian Arctic seas.[6][better source needed]The ship's leader, Captain Childs, took Henson under his wing and taught him to read and write.[1]

Exploration

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Henson in his Arctic furs

While working at a Washington D.C. clothing store, B.H. Stinemetz and Sons, in November 1887, Henson met CommanderRobert E. Peary.Learning of Henson's sea experience, Peary recruited him as an aide for his planned voyage and surveying expedition to Nicaragua, with four other men. Peary supervised 45 engineers on the canal survey in Nicaragua. Impressed with Henson's seamanship on that voyage, Peary recruited him as a colleague and he became "first man" in his expeditions.

After that, for more than 20 years, their expeditions were to the Arctic. Henson traded with theInuitand mastered theInuit language;[3]they called himMahri-Pahluk.[8]He was remembered as the only non-Inuit who became skilled in driving the dog sleds and in training dog teams in the Inuit way.[8]He was a skilled craftsman, often coming up with solutions for what the team needed in the harsh Arctic conditions; they learned to buildigloosout of snow, for mobile housing as they traveled. His and Peary's teams covered thousands of miles in dog sleds and reached the "Farthest North"point of any Arctic expedition until 1909.[9]

1908–09 expedition

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Photograph of Henson and the four Inuit guides on the last stretch of their 1908–09 expedition, taken by Peary at what they believed to be the North Pole.

In 1908–09, Peary mounted his eighth attempt to reach the North Pole. The expedition was large, as Peary planned to use his system of setting up cached supplies along the way. When he and Henson boarded his shipRoosevelt,leaving Greenland on August 18, 1909, they were accompanied by

22 Inuit men, 17 Inuit women, 10 children, 246 dogs, 70 tons (64 metric tons) of whale meat from Labrador, the meat and blubber of 50 walruses, hunting equipment, and tons of coal. In February, Henson and Peary departed their anchored ship at Ellesmere Island'sCape Sheridan,with the Inuit men and 130 dogs working to lay a trail and supplies along the route to the Pole.[9]

Peary selected Henson and four Inuit as part of the team of six men who would make the final run to the Pole. Before the goal was reached, Peary could no longer continue on foot and rode in a dog sled. Various accounts say he was ill, was exhausted, or had frozen toes. He sent Henson ahead as a scout.

In a newspaper interview, Henson later said:

I was in the lead that had overshot the mark a couple of miles. We went back then and I could see that my footprints were the first at the spot.[10]

Henson proceeded to plant the American flag.

Illustration of Matthew Henson by Charles Henry Alston

The claim by Peary's team to have reached the North Pole was widely debated in newspapers at the time, as was the competing claim byFrederick Cook.[11]TheNational Geographic Societyas well as the Naval Affairs Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives both credited Peary's team with having reached the North Pole.[11]Others remained doubtful. A reassessment of Peary's notebook by British polar explorerWally Herbertin 1988 found it "lacking in essential data", thus, renewing doubts about Peary's claim.[12][13]

Later life

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Photograph of Henson in civilian clothing, taken from his 1912 bookA Negro Explorer at the North Pole

In 1912 Henson published a memoir about his arctic explorations,A Negro Explorer at the North Pole.In this, he describes himself as a "general assistant, skilled craftsperson, interpreter, and laborer."[1]He later collaborated with author Bradley Robinson on his 1947 biography,Dark Companion,which told more about his life.

During the following decades, Admiral Peary received many honors for leading the expedition to the Pole, but Henson's contributions were largely ignored.[3]In 1909 he was honored at dinners within the black community. Henson spent most of the next 30 years working on staff in theU.S. Customs Housein New York, at the suggestion ofTheodore Roosevelt.[14]

He later gained renewed attention. In 1937 Henson was admitted as a member to the prestigiousExplorers Clubin New York City, and in 1948 he was made an honorary member, of whom there are only 20 per year. In 1944 Congress awarded him and five other Peary aides duplicates of thePeary Polar Expedition Medal,a silver medal given to Peary.[15]PresidentsTrumanandEisenhowerboth honored Henson before he died in 1955.[16]

Henson died in the Bronx, New York on March 9, 1955, at the age of 88. He was buried atWoodlawn Cemeteryand survived by his wife Lucy. After her death in 1968, she was buried with him. In 1988, both their bodies were moved for reinterment atArlington National Cemetery,accompanied by a commemoration ceremony.[5]

Family

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Henson married Eva Flint in 1891, but their marriage did not survive their long periods of separation, and they divorced in 1897. He later marriedLucy Rossin New York City on September 7, 1907.[17][better source needed]They had no children.[18]

During the extended expeditions to Greenland, Henson and Peary both tookInuitwomen as "country wives"and fathered children with them. With his concubine, known as Akatingwah, Henson fathered his only child, a son named Anauakaq, born in 1906.[8][19]Anauakaq's children are Henson's only descendants.[18]After 1909, Henson never saw Akatingwah or his son again; other explorers sometimes updated him about them.[18][20]The existence of Henson's and Peary's descendants first was made public by French explorer and ethnologistJean Malauriewho spent a year in Greenland in 1951–1952.[21][19][22]

S. Allen Counter,a neuroscientist and director of the Harvard Foundation, had been interested in Henson's story and traveled in Greenland for research related to it. Learning of possible descendants of the explorers, he tracked down Henson's and Peary's sons, Anauakaq and Kali, respectively in 1986. By then the men were octogenarians.[23]He arranged a visit for them the following year to the United States, where they met American relatives from both families and visited their fathers' graves.[24]Anauakaq died in 1987. He and his wife Aviaq had five sons and a daughter, who have children of their own. While some still reside in Greenland,[18][24][25]others have moved to Sweden or the United States.[19]

Several Inuit family members returned to Washington, D.C., in 1988 for the ceremony of reinterment of Henson and his wife Lucy at Arlington National Cemetery. Counter had petitioned PresidentRonald Reaganfor this honor to gain recognition of Henson's contributions to Arctic exploration. Counter wrote a book about his finding Anauakaq and Kali, his research on Henson's life and contributions, historical racial relations, and the Inuits' meeting with Henson and Peary relatives in the United States, entitledNorth Pole Legacy: Black, White and Eskimo(1991). The material was adapted and produced as a film documentary by the same name.[23]

Extended family

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Matthew Henson's only descendants were the children of his Inuit son and their children. According to S. Allen Counter, in his lifetime Henson had identified families of two nieces as being part of his extended birth family. They were Virginia Carter Brannum, daughter of Henson's sister Eliza Henson Carter of Washington, D.C., and Olive Henson Fulton of Boston, daughter of his half-brother.[18]In a 1988 article, Counter noted that these two women had letters and photographs certifying their kinship. They were the only family members to attend Henson's funeral in 1955, along with his widow Lucy Ross Henson.[18]Counter later recommended to the United States Navy and theNational Geographic Societythat Audrey Mebane, daughter of Virginia Brannum, and Olive Henson Fulton be designated as family representatives for any ceremonies honoring Henson.[7]

Henson is believed to be a great-great-granduncle of actressTaraji P. Henson.[26][27]

Legacy and honors

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Henson's grave inArlington National Cemeteryin Arlington, Virginia, U.S.
Entrance of the site of the former Matthew Henson Public Housing Project.
  • On October 19, 1909, Henson was the guest of honor at a dinner ceremony held by the Colored Citizens of New York, where he was honored by toasts and given a gold watch and chain.[28]
  • In 1937,The Explorers Club,under its "polar" PresidentVilhjalmur Stefansson,invited Henson to join its ranks.[29]
  • In 1940, a public housing project, for affordable housing for Phoenix African Americans, was named after Matthew Henson. The former site of the project was recognized as part of a historic district by thePhoenix Historic Property Registerin June 2005. Only one courtyard with the original buildings remains.[30]
  • In 1940, Henson was honored with one of the 33dioramasat theAmerican Negro Expositionin Chicago.[31]
  • In 1945, Henson and other Peary aides were given U.S. Navy medals for their Arctic achievements.
  • In 1948, the Explorers Club awarded the explorer its highest rank of Honorary Member, an honor reserved for no more than 20 living members at a time.[29]
  • In 1954, Henson was invited to the White House[6][better source needed]
  • Before his death in 1955, Henson received honorary doctoral degrees from Howard University and Morgan State University.[5]
  • On May 28, 1986, the United States Postal Service issued a 22 cent postage stamp in honor of Henson and Peary;[32]they were previously honored in 1959, but not by name.[33][34]
  • In 1988 Henson and his wife Lucy were reinterred inArlington National Cemetery,with a monument to his exploring achievements, near Peary's grave and monument. Many members from his Inuit descendants (Anauakaq's children) and extended American family attended.[35]
  • In October 1996, the United States Navy commissionedUSNSHenson,aPathfinder-classoceanographic survey ship, named in honor of Matthew Henson.
  • In 2000, theNational Geographic Societyawarded theHubbard Medalto Matthew A. Henson posthumously.[3]The medal was presented to Henson's great-niece Audrey Mebane at the newly named Matthew A. Henson Earth Conservation Center in Washington, D.C.; in addition, the NGS established a scholarship in Henson's name.
  • Places in Maryland named in Henson's honor include the following:Matthew Henson State Parkin Aspen Hill, Maryland,Matthew Henson Middle School[36]inPomonkey,[37]and elementary schools named for him in Baltimore[38]and Palmer Park, Maryland.[39]
  • TheHenson Glacier (Greenland)was named after him.
  • In 2008–2009, a 100th anniversary expedition to the North Pole was undertaken in honor of Henson byDwayne Fields.[40]
  • In 2009 at larger-than-life statue of Mathew Henson and his lead sled dog, King, was created by John J. Giannotti. It stands in front of the Camden Shipyard & Maritime Museum, located at 1910, S. Broadway, Camden, NJ, in the Waterfront South Historic District. A plaque on the base of the statue commemorates a ship called theKite.Stones brought back on theKitefrom one of the Henson-Peary explorations were used to build part of the former Church of Our Saviour. This historic structure is now home to the museum and the Mathew Henson Arctic Explorer Room. (50)(51) 50.Colimore, Edward, 2009, “Sculpture in Camden to Honor Polar Explorer,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb, 6. 51.Lang, Michael H., 2013, “An Upstart Maritime Museum is Launched in Camden, New Jersey,” Sea History, 144:34–37
  • In October 2020, the previously namedColumbusGPS Block IIIsatellite was renamed after the launch asMatthew Henson.[41][42]
  • In September 2021, on the proposal of an intern at theLunar and Planetary Institute,acraterat thesouth pole of the Moon,located betweenSverdrupandde Gerlachecraters, was namedHensonafter him.[4]

Representation in media

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Notes

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  1. ^abcdeDeirdre C. Stam, "Introduction to The Explorers Club Edition,"Matthew A. Henson's Historic Arctic Journey: The Classic Account of One of the World's Greatest Black Explorers,Globe Pequot, 2009, pp. 3–6
  2. ^Burial Detail: Henson, Matthew A (Section 8, Grave S-15-1)– ANC Explorer
  3. ^abcdHoward, Brian Clark (February 23, 2018)."Historic Photos Celebrate Pioneering Black Explorer".National Geographic.Archived fromthe originalon February 25, 2016.RetrievedJanuary 17,2019.
  4. ^ab"Lunar Crater Named After Arctic Explorer Matthew Henson by International Astronomical Union, Accepting NASA/LPI Proposal".NASA.September 20, 2021.RetrievedSeptember 25,2021.
  5. ^abc"Biography of Matthew Alexander Henson".Arlington National Cemetery.RetrievedJanuary 18,2018.
  6. ^abcdMichael., Gilman (1988).Matthew Henson.New York: Chelsea House Publishers.ISBN1555465900.OCLC16581828.
  7. ^abBradley Robinson, "Matthew Henson genealogy"[usurped],Matthew A. Henson website, 2012, accessed October 2, 2013
  8. ^abcdStephanie Schorow (AP), "Descendant of Black man and Eskimo woman are unique",inDaily News(Bowling Green, KY), May 17, 1992
  9. ^abAnna Brendle, Profile: "African-American North Pole Explorer Matthew Henson",National Geographic,15 January 2003, accessed 3 October 2013.
  10. ^"Matt Henson, Who Reached Pole With Peary in 1909, Dies at 88; He Was the Only American With Explorer",New York Times,10 March 1955.
  11. ^abHenderson, Bruce (2009)."Who Discovered the North Pole?".Smithsonian.RetrievedJanuary 17,2019.
  12. ^Wilford, John Noble (August 22, 1988)."Doubts cast on Peary's claim to Pole".The New York Times.RetrievedJanuary 17,2019.
  13. ^Tierney, John (September 7, 2009)."Who Was First at the North Pole?".The New York Times.RetrievedJanuary 17,2019.
  14. ^Mills, James (February 28, 2014)."The Legacy of Arctic Explorer Matthew Henson".Beyond the Edge.Archived fromthe originalon March 1, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 18,2018.
  15. ^"Vote Grants Medals to Peary Aides",New York Times,January 20, 1944.
  16. ^"President Greets Last Survivor of Peary Arctic Dash",New York Times,April 7, 1954.
  17. ^Marriage License for New York County number 22771 for the year 1907. Municipal Archives of the City of New York. 31 Chambers Street, Room 103, New York City 10007
  18. ^abcdefCounter, S. Allen, "The Henson Family",National Geographic,174, September 1988, pp. 414–429.
  19. ^abcHanley, Charles J. (September 7, 2011)."US explorers' Inuit kin plug into globalized world".Native Times.RetrievedJanuary 18,2019.
  20. ^George, Jane (April 9, 2009)."Matthew Henson's descendants honour their ancestor".Nunatsiaq News.RetrievedJanuary 7,2019.
  21. ^"Anaukaq Henson, 80, dies".Washington Post.July 13, 1987.RetrievedJanuary 17,2019.
  22. ^US explorers' Inuit kin plug into globalized world
  23. ^abPeople: "Dr. S. Allen Counter"ArchivedFebruary 21, 2006, at theWayback Machine,Intercultural Issues, 2005–2009, Harvard Foundation, Harvard University, accessed October 1, 2013.
  24. ^abDr. S. Allen Counter, "North Pole Legacy: Black, White, and Eskimo" (1991; Invisible Cities Press, reprint 2001).
  25. ^"Ahnahkaq [sic] Henson, 80, Dies; A Son of Explorer With Peary",New York Times,July 12, 1987.
  26. ^Tucker, Neely (October 6, 2011). Henson, spent most of her summers as a child inScotland Neck, North Carolina,a small town between Rocky Mount and Roanoke Rapids. It is about an hour and a half from Raleigh, North Carolina and 45 mins from the Virginia state line."The real Taraji Henson".The Washington Post.
  27. ^Williams, Kam (2008)."Taraji Shares All, Even the Surprising Color of Her Panties".African American Literature Book Club.Archivedfrom the original on November 21, 2008.RetrievedApril 13,2015.Yes, he's my great-great cousin. He was the brother of my great-great-grandfather. Matthew would send him letters about his travels while out on his expeditions.
  28. ^"Colored Citizens of New York and Vicinity".RetrievedOctober 1,2013.
  29. ^ab"Peary Aide is Honored: Matthew Henson, 81, Made Member of Celebrated Club",New York Times,May 12, 1948.
  30. ^"Phoenix Housing Site"(PDF).
  31. ^"American Negro Exposition 1863–1940, July 4 to Sept. 2, 1940, Chicago, IL"(PDF).Living History of Illinois.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on March 3, 2017.RetrievedMarch 26,2021.
  32. ^Scott catalog# 2223.
  33. ^Scott catalog# 1128.
  34. ^"Veterans and the Military on Stamps", pp. 5, 30, found atUSPS websiteArchivedJanuary 27, 2006, at theWayback Machine.Retrieved September 25, 2008.
  35. ^R. Drummond Ayres Jr., "Matt Henson, Aide at Pole, Rejoins Peary",New York Times,April 7, 1988.
  36. ^"Matthew Henson Middle School".Archived fromthe originalon October 8, 2006.
  37. ^"About: Matthew Alexander Henson".Archived fromthe originalon March 2, 2008.RetrievedFebruary 1,2008.
  38. ^"Matthew Henson Elementary School #29".Baltimore City Public School System.[permanent dead link‍]
  39. ^"Matthew Henson Elementary School".Prince George's County Public Schools.Archived fromthe originalon January 7, 2007.
  40. ^"Dwayne Fields, the first black Briton to reach the north pole: 'I spotted this polar bear stalking us'".The Guardian.October 28, 2021.RetrievedOctober 29,2021.
  41. ^Clark, Stephen (October 2, 2020)."Space Force announces new nicknames for GPS satellites".Spaceflight Now.RetrievedOctober 2,2020.
  42. ^https://www.losangeles.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2082387/gps-iii-space-vehicle-03-safely-arrives-in-florida/This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
  43. ^Barr Films (1978).The Scooby-Doo gang explores Black explorers.Pasadena, Calif.: Barr Film.OCLC4980184.
  44. ^Morris, Christopher; Doctorow (1999). Christopher D. Morris (ed.).Conversations with E. L. Doctorow.E.L. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 215.ISBN157806144X.
  45. ^Napoli, Donna Jo (2004).North.HarperCollins. p. 344.ISBN0060579870.
  46. ^"International Comic-Salon Erlangen".Kultur- und Freizeitamt Erlangen.RetrievedMay 14,2013.
  47. ^(in Spanish)Bajo el sol de medianoche,Juan Díaz CanalesandRubén Pellejero,Norma Editorial,Barcelona, 2015.ISBN978-8467920543
  48. ^McClellan, Jennifer (February 8, 2019)."Kevin Hart is less funny, more educational on Netflix special 'Guide to Black History'".USA Today.RetrievedFebruary 14,2019.
  49. ^"Stevie Wonder" Black Man "lyrics".Genius.com.RetrievedJune 29,2022.
  50. ^"Arctic Autograph",Destination Freedom

Further reading

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