Frozen Dreams

It was April 3, 1909. An American explorer named Matthew Henson was trudging across the Arctic Ocean. This was an ice-covered land of brutal cold and blinding blizzards. No person could survive here for long. Even polar bears stayed away.

But Henson was excited. In a few days, he hoped to achieve his dream of being one of the first people to set foot on the North Pole.

Henson put his head down and pushed against the fierce wind. Suddenly, he lost his balance. The ice beneath him wobbled, and he tumbled into the ocean. The frigid water hit his skin like millions of needles.

The water seemed to grab him and pull him down. Henson had spent nearly 20 years trying to get to the North Pole. And now it seemed it would all end here, in the icy blackness of the Arctic Ocean. 

Matthew Henson probably didn’t hear much about the Arctic when he was growing up in Washington, D.C. By the age of 13, Henson was an orphan. As an African American, he faced cruel racism that was common throughout America at the time.

At 13, he walked 40 miles to Baltimore, hoping to get a job as a sailor. There, he convinced a ship captain to hire him as a cabin boy—the lowliest job on a ship. Henson sailed around the world. He learned to read and became a skilled sailor and carpenter.

At age 18, Henson returned to Washington, D.C., and looked for a good job. But most white business owners wouldn’t hire African Americans. The best job Henson could find was stocking shelves in a hat store.

One day, a tall man came into the store. His name was Robert Peary, and he was an engineer in the U.S. Navy. Peary was going on a Navy expedition to a jungle in Central America. He was looking for a cabin boy. 

Henson and Peary set sail for Greenland in June 1891 with four other men and Peary’s wife, Josephine. One month later, they came ashore and set up camp near a bay. As planned, the ship sailed away. It would return in one year to pick them up.

They had made it to the Arctic. But they were still 700 miles from the North Pole. Getting there would mean weeks of trekking through killing cold and harsh blizzards.

To survive, they would need help from Arctic experts: Inuit people. The Inuit were skilled ice fishermen and hunters of arctic animals like seals, walruses, and polar bears. They did not waste a single scrap of an animal. They ate the meat and blubber and often drank the blood. They made clothes from skins and furs and carved bones into tools.

The team spent the first months in Greenland where they prepared food and other supplies. Peary hired Inuit women to sew them fur clothing and sealskin moccasins, which didn’t freeze and split open in the cold like leather boots did.

During this time, Henson began to make friends with the Inuit people they met. Unlike Peary, Henson learned their language and joined their celebrations. Henson’s Inuit friends taught him how to hunt and ice fish. They taught Henson to drive a dogsled pulled by a team of eight dogs. No other American or European explorers had these kinds of skills. 

In the coming years, Peary and Henson would make five more trips to the Arctic. They faced many near disasters. They got lost in blizzards and at times ran so short of food they nearly starved.

On one trip across the ice, Peary’s feet became so frostbitten that eight of his toes snapped off. He would have lost his feet completely had Henson not pushed him back to camp on a sled, an 11-day journey.

Despite these setbacks, Peary became famous. Back in America between trips, newspapers ran glowing stories about his daring adventures. Henson was rarely mentioned, except as Peary’s “manservant.”

Yet Henson had become as determined as Peary to get to the Pole. And in 1909, on their sixth trip to the Arctic, it seemed their dream was about to come true.

On April 3, they were pushing across the ice. Henson was leading the way along with four Inuit men: Seegloo, Egingwah, Ooqueah, and Ootah. Based on Peary’s measurements, they believed they were about 150 miles from the North Pole. 

In the coming years, Peary and Henson would make five more trips to the Arctic. They faced many near disasters. They got lost in blizzards and nearly starved.

On one trip, Peary’s feet became so frostbitten that eight of his toes snapped off. Peary would have lost both his feet, but Henson pushed him back to camp on a sled—a journey that took 11 days.

Even with all these troubles, Peary became famous. Newspapers ran stories about his daring adventures. Henson was rarely mentioned, except as Peary’s “manservant.”

Yet Henson was determined to get to the Pole. And in 1909, on their sixth trip to the Arctic, it seemed their dream was about to come true.

On April 3, they were pushing across the ice. Henson was leading the way along with four Inuit men: Seegloo, Egingwah, Ooqueah, and Ootah. They were about 150 miles from the North Pole. 

In the coming decades, Henson won some small awards. Within African American communities, he was deeply admired. But history books mostly ignored Henson’s achievements and those of most African Americans and nonwhite people. Henson lived a quiet life in New York City with his wife, Lucy, working as a messenger. His niece, Olive Henson Fulton, once proudly told classmates that her uncle Matthew was a famous Arctic explorer. Her teacher punished her for lying.

But by the time Henson died in 1955, America was changing. African Americans were fighting for equal rights. In the 1960s, new laws outlawed discrimination based on race. The accomplishments of African Americans began to rise out of history’s shadows. 

In 1988, Matthew Henson’s body was moved to Arlington National Cemetery, the burial ground of many of America’s admired heroes. The gravestone says:

Matthew Alexander Henson

Co-Discoverer of the North Pole.

In the following years, Henson was admired by many African Americans. But history books mostly ignored Henson’s achievements and those of most nonwhite people. Henson lived a quiet life in New York City with his wife, Lucy. His niece, Olive Henson Fulton, once told classmates that her uncle Matthew was a famous Arctic explorer. Her teacher punished her for lying.

By the time Henson died in 1955, America was changing. African Americans were fighting for equal rights. In the 1960s, new laws made it illegal to treat someone differently based on race. The achievements of African Americans began to rise out of history’s shadows. 

In 1988, Matthew Henson’s body was moved to Arlington National Cemetery, the burial ground of many of America’s heroes. The gravestone says:

Matthew Alexander Henson

Co-Discoverer of the North Pole.