Robert Peary
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Robert Edwin Peary was an American explorer and officer in the United States Navy who made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was long credited as being th
At Cape Sheridan on Ellesmere Island, 1909
Peary c. 1900
Matthew Henson, Peary's assistant, in 1910
Peary in civilian clothing
Matthew Henson
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Matthew Alexander Henson was an American explorer who accompanied Robert Peary on seven voyages to the Arctic over a period of nearly 23 years. They spent a total of 18 years on expeditions together.
Robert Peary
…routes for a proposed Nicaragua Canal. To complete his tropical outfit he needed a sun hat. He went to a men's clothing store where he met 21-year-old Matthew Henson, a black man working as a sales clerk. Learning that Henson had six years of seagoing experience as a cabin boy, Peary immediately hired him as a…
Henson in his Arctic furs
Photograph of Henson and the four Inuit guides on the last stretch of their 1908–09 expedition, taken by Peary at what they believed to be the North Pole.
Illustration of Matthew Henson by Charles Alston