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Matthew Alexander Henson
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Henson sitting on sledge used in Robert E. Peary's expedition to the North Pole, 1909 North Pole: expedition Five members of Robert Peary's 1909 North Pole expedition stand on snow, raising their arms, with a mound of ice and a U.S. flag behind them.
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Henson sitting on sledge used in Robert E. Peary's expedition to the North Pole, 1909
Henson sitting on sledge used in Robert E. Peary's expedition to the North Pole, 1909

Matthew Alexander Henson

American explorer
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Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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Matthew Alexander Henson (born August 8, 1866, Charles county, Maryland, U.S.—died March 9, 1955, New York, N.Y.) was an African American explorer who accompanied Robert E. Peary on most of his expeditions, including that to the North Pole in 1909. Orphaned as a youth, Henson went to sea at the age of 12 as a cabin boy on the sailing ship Katie Hines. Later, while working in a store in Washington, D.C., he met Peary,...

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