Young, Gifted and Black

Matthew Alexander Henson was the first African-American Arctic explorer. He made six exploration voyages over the course of 18 years. Born to poor tenant farmers who passed away during his childhood, Matthew became a dishwasher at Janey’s Home-Cooked Meals Café to support himself when he was about eleven years old. One of hist favorite parts of the work was learning about the customers’ lives. He was especially fascinated by sailors and any interesting voyages.
Aged 12, he walked forty miles from his home to Baltimore to work on a merchant boat. Once he was hired, he learned how to read and write from the ship’s captain. Always adventurous, Matthew sailed all around the world.
In 1890, he joined voyager Robert Peary’s first Arctic expedition across the northern tip of Greenland. He went on to cover almost 10,000 miles on dogsleds across Greenland and Canada.
Matthew’s team made history by becoming the first explorers to reach the North Pole in 1909. Matthew declared, “I think I’m the first man to sit on top of the world.”