A Negro Explorer at the North Pole

Matthew Henson

A Negro Explorer at the North Pole — In 1909, Robert Peary’s final polar party claimed to have reached the North Pole. Peary was the group’s only white man; his companions were four Inuit men and Matthew Henson, an African American who had shared his expeditions for about twenty years. Henson recounts this last expedition with candor and warmth, neither exaggerating nor minimizing the hardships: journeys on foot and by sledge in temperatures of −50°F (about −46°C) and below. His account is a testament to endurance in debilitating conditions.