1866-1955

American Explorer

Matthew A. Henson went from clothing salesman to Arctic explorer following a chance meeting with American adventurer and naval engineer Robert E. Peary (1856-1920). For three decades, Henson accompanied Peary on many expeditions to the Arctic, and was a member of the team that in 1909 became the first to reach the North Pole.

Henson was born on August 8, 1866, in Charles County, Maryland. An African-American, he was the son of free parents, both of whom died when he was a boy. After attending a segregated school in Washington, D.C., he spent most of his teen years taking jobs on ships traveling to such places as Africa, the Orient, Asia, and Europe. Eventually, he traded life on the water for one on land, and took employment in a Washington, D.C., clothing store. It was there that he met Peary, who stopped...