Why is matthew henson famous

Henson proceeded to place the American flag at what he thought was the North Pole. In , Henson wrote A Negro Explorer at the North Pole , a book that details his experiences on his journey, and in , he was appointed clerk in the U. Henson retired in , and in he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor given to all of the members of the expedition. The explorer died in New York City in at the age of 89 and was buried in the city.

In , the U. Navy commissioned the U. Henson posthumously. The Bigoraphy of Matthew A. Henson New York: E. Skip to content Matthew Alexander Henson, When the captain died, Henson went to work as a store clerk. There he met Edwin Peary, a navy officer and explorer. Peary hired Henson to go on his expeditions. Their group has been recognized as the first to reach the North Pole. Question: What happened to Matthew Henson after the expeditions were over? Answer: Henson was 43 years old when he and Peary traveled to the North Pole.

He came home and spent the next 30 years working as a clerk at a New York federal customs house. He also wrote two books. The information you provide us shall be used to respond and assist you with information you have requested from OAC.

On April 6, , U. Henson and Peary had been attempting to reach the Pole for the past 18 years. According to Henson, he was the first of the group to reach the North Pole. Matthew Henson was born in Charles County, Maryland in His parents were sharecroppers, like many African Americans in the post-Civil War years. Both died during Henson's childhood. At the age of 12, he went to work as a cabin boy on a merchant ship, having been fascinated by stories of the sea. Aboard the ship for six years, he learned how to read, write and navigate.

Later, while working as a clerk in a Washington, D. Peary, who was planning a surveying expedition to Nicaragua. Upon learning of Henson's sailing and navigation experience, Peary hired him as a valet. On the Nicaragua expedition, Henson impressed Peary, and subsequently accompanied him on seven Arctic expeditions between and