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Matthew Alexander Henson
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Henson sitting on sledge used in Robert E. Peary's expedition to the North Pole, 1909 North Pole: expedition North Pole expedition
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Henson sitting on sledge used in Robert E. Peary's expedition to the North Pole, 1909
Henson sitting on sledge used in Robert E. Peary's expedition to the North Pole, 1909

Matthew Alexander Henson

American explorer
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Born:
August 8, 1866, Charles county, Maryland, U.S.
Died:
March 9, 1955, New York, N.Y. (aged 88)
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Matthew Alexander Henson (born August 8, 1866, Charles county, Maryland, U.S.—died March 9, 1955, New York, N.Y.) was an African American explorer who accompanied Robert E. Peary on most of his expeditions, including that to the North Pole in 1909. Orphaned as a youth, Henson went to sea at the age of 12 as a cabin boy on the sailing ship Katie Hines. Later, while working in a store in Washington, D.C., he met Peary, who hired him in 1887 as a valet for his next expedition to Nicaragua (1888). Peary, impressed with Henson’s ability and resourcefulness, employed him as ...(100 of 191 words)

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