On April 6, 1909, Matthew Henson made it to the top of the world. He, Admiral Robert Peary, and four Inuit—Ookeah, Ootah, Egingwah, and Seegloo—were the first human beings to reach the inhospitable North Pole. Many had died trying.
Robert Peary returned home to receive glory, honors, and financial reward. Because he was African American, Matthew Henson was ignored. Today, however, the extraordinary role played by this skilled and courageous man is more widely recognized.
Henson was 21 and Peary 31 when they began their partnership in exploration. In June 1891, they sailed from New York with the first North Greenland Expedition. Five times, over several years, they were defeated by the merciless ice- and rock-bound land. In 1893, they fled before storms that flung boulders around like rubber balls, and in 1895, they were stranded, starving, and had to eat their dogs. In 1898, Peary lost his toes to frostbite. But still they wouldn’t give up!
