African American explorer Matthew Henson (1866 - 1955) - long-serving assistant to US polar explorer Robert Peary (1856 - 1920).
Vintage photo circa 1906 of African American explorer Matthew Henson (1866 - 1955) - long-serving assistant to US polar explorer Robert Edwin Peary (1856 - 1920). Henson accompanied Peary on a string of Arctic expeditions over two decades and was among the party which Peary claimed was the first to reach the geographic North Pole in April 1909. Peary was subsequently recognised with various awards and honours after the claim to have been the first to reach the Pole was accepted but racial attitudes at the time meant Henson was largely ignored. He spent much of the remainder of his life working as a customs clerk in New York and only in his later years was the importance of his role in the polar quest recognised. The Peary expedition's claim to have reached the pole has come under doubt in recent times amid evidence that they may actually have fallen some miles short of reaching the geographic pole. Photo by Bain News Service.
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Photo credit: © Archive Pics / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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