Polar Explorer!

August 8, 1866: Matthew Henson Born
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▪Born in Maryland

▪Orphaned by his parents, Henson went to sea at the age of twelve as a cabin boy

▪Over five years the sea captain taught Henson how to read and write, as well as navigate the boat

▪Henson met navel engineer Robert E. Peary while working in a hat store in Washington, D.C., Peary was determined to be the first man to reach the North Pole

▪Peary led an Artic expedition team and Henson soon joined them

▪Henson’s first Artic expedition was to Greenland

▪On the expeditions Henson fixed the sleds, hunted, and traded with the Inuit, who gave him the nickname, “Mahri-Pahluk”

▪For more than twenty years Henson would accompany Peary on expeditions in the Artic

▪In 1909 Henson, Peary, and four Inuit men reached the North Pole, Henson the first to reach, planted the United States flag

▪Henson wrote a book about his life as an explorer called, “A Negro Explorer at the North Pole” (1912)

▪In 1945 Henson was honored with a Navy medal

▪Henson passed away in 1955, in 1988 Henson and his wife were reburied in the Arlington National Cemetery beside Peary
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Book Feature: I, Matthew Henson (2007)
Written by: Carole Boston Weatherford
Illustrated by: Eric Velasquez
✔On our To Be Read List
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Additional Reading: Keep On! The Story of Matthew Henson, Co-Discoverer of the North Pole (2015)
Written by: Deborah Hopkinson
Illustrated by: Stephen Alcorn
💯Read & Recommended