Matthew Henson (1866-1955)
Filed under the name Matthew · October 1, 2026
Matthew Henson was part of the expedition credited with reaching the North Pole in 1909, and from what I understand, his navigational and survival skills were essential to the whole team actually making it there and back, not just a supporting role in somebody else's story. I've spent 22 years covering ground across this country, and I've got real respect for the people who actually know the terrain, who do the unglamorous work of keeping an expedition alive mile by mile, even when the history books eventually put somebody else's name on the achievement first. Henson, as an African American explorer in that era, didn't get anywhere close to the recognition he'd earned for a long time after the fact, and it's taken history a while to properly credit what he actually contributed. I think about that whenever people talk about who 'gets credit' for a long haul versus who actually drove it. Henson drove a huge stretch of that journey. Good that people are finally saying so.