By Meher

Matthew Alexander Henson

Date of birth: August 8, 1866

Date of death: March 9, 1955

Matthew Henson was the first black man to explore the Arctic. He is also known as the co-discoverer of the Arctic. Matthew was only known as the co-discoverer of the Arctic because his captain Robert Peary got most of the credit.

When Matthew was born, slavery had been abolished, but there was still a lot of segregation. Segregation is separation by skin color, for example Black people were not allowed to go to the same places as white people and were not allowed to do the same things as white people. They were treated differently and badly.

Matthew’s mom died when he was 7 years old. Matthew’s dad thought that Matthew would be better off with two caregivers so he sent Matthew to live with his aunt and uncle. When Matthew was 13, his dad passed away and his aunt and uncle could not care for him. He became a dishwasher at a restaurant. Matthew was adventurous, so he hung out by the harbor and heard stories about the seas and he wanted to be part of the action.

In Matthew’s Arctic expedition he met a tribe in the Arctic called the Eskimos. The Eskimos were discriminated against and Matthew understood how that felt. The Eskimos taught Matthew how to survive and during one of his expeditions the Eskimos came with them and lent them dog sleds. The Eskimos loved Matthew, and they understood him.

Some obstacles that Matthew faced were: Matthew wanted to become a sailor, so he found work aboard a ship called Kaitie Hines. The captain's name was Captain Childs. The captain gave Matthew a job of peeling potatoes. People aboard the ship discriminated against Matthew by saying mean comments about him and giving him a hard time. But Captain Childs soon realized how eager Matthew was to learn, so he gave him daily lessons. Matthew started as a cabin boy but soon climbed the ranks. Many people thought that Black people couldn't be at sea. When Captain Childs passed away, Matthew was heartbroken and he decided to move to a different ship. Another obstacle that Matthew faced was: In the Arctic expedition, Matthew’s eye froze and he went blind in one eye,and once in his expedition Matthew fell into freezing water! Matthew’s life after Kaitie Hines was tough. He became a hat seller. One day a sailor named Robert Peary came into the hat shop and asked Matthew if he would like to sail on his ship, Matthew took the offer and that was how Matthew began his Arctic expedition. Another obstacle that Matthew faced was: Robert got most of the credit, because he was white and Matthew was Black.

Some traits that Matthew had were:

Brave: Matthew’s eye froze in one of his expeditions and he was afraid it would stop him but he kept going.

Adventurous: Matthew was one of the only men who volunteered for the Arctic expedition, knowing it would be dangerous.

Humble: Matthew accomplished many hard things in life but never bragged.

Here’s a fact: Did you know that several black people helped Matthew gain his fame? Without that Mathew would have never been known as the co-discoverer of the Arctic!!

The one thing I would like to ask Matthew is: “Did you feel like Captain Childs was like a father to you?”

I think we still learn about Matthew’s inspiring story because Matthew proved that Black people can be adventurous even while facing discrimination.