What was Matthew Henson’s childhood like?
What was Matthew Henson’s childhood like?
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.
What obstacles did Matthew Henson face?
He married twice, and had no children apart from Ahnaukaq Henson, who, in 1987, at the age of 80, achieved his lifetime ambition of visiting the land of his father’s birth. Obstacles he faced included ice floes, snowstorms, frostbite and racism: 9.
Why is Matthew Henson a hero?
Matthew A. Henson was a Black explorer and one of two Americans in Robert Peary’s successful 1909 expedition to the geographic North Pole. He was the only American chosen for the final stretch to the Pole.
Who was the first person to the North Pole?
The first consistent, verified, and scientifically convincing attainment of the Pole was on 12 May 1926, by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his US sponsor Lincoln Ellsworth from the airship Norge.
