Enjoy A Negro Explorer At The North Pole By Matthew A. Henson Visible In Textbook

read this for a freelance article I'm working on for Black History month, about the African American polar explorer Matthew Henson, who may or may not have been the first person to reach the North Pole in.
Whether he was or not, Henson was a remarkable and admirable man,

Born of free blacks a year after the Civil War ended and orphaned early in life, he worked as a seaman on ships going around the world from his teen years, and then talked explorer Robert Peary into taking him on as an assistant for several trips, notably those carried out in the earlys as Peary competed to become the first to reach the

North Pole.


Henson was along on all those trips, and may actually have reached the reputed pole location before his boss, But more importantly, this largely unschooled man learned the Inuit language, was the main liaison between the Inuits who accompanied the explorations and the whites who were the principal figures, and was a masterful jack of all trades building the sleds, taking care of the dogs, hunting wildlife, building tents and igloos and otherwise shouldering a major part of every job at a time when his leader had lostof histoes to frostbite and was debilitated for his final trip.


This memoir is a bit scattershot in its tale of the trip, but Henson does provide enough details to show just how brutal and challenging it was, from the temperatures that were routinely more thanbelow to the huge ice ridges that filled the miles between the coast of Greenland and the North Pole to the storms that raged across the area, often hurtling boulders over cliffs as though they were crumpled of pieces of paper in a breeze.


He also manages to show how much he did without sounding bitter for the subservient position into which Peary put him, and manages to praise his commander even while noting Peary's lack of praise for him.


Rather historically interesting,
A good accomplishment at the time, for any man, The Arctic was a very frozen wilderness, he learned the Inuit language and studied their survival techniques, He was very helpful to the group, Nice read You know the feeling when you read an author and wish it was someone you could hang out with That is how I feel about Matt Henson.
An intelligent, hardworking but doesn't brag about it, funny, easygoing guy, who also happened to be the man chosen to accompany Peary on his marking of the North Pole.
A great read that neither glosses over nor dwells on, the hardships, and enlightens the reader on just what was involved in traversing the Arctic, What an amazing travel journal of Matthew Hensons historic expedition to the North pole,

I thought this quasijournal format would interfere with the reading flow, but instead it enhanced the experience, As we read this book, we exist, not as spectators, but as participants in this amazing journey, It is as though we are standing alongside Matthew Henson as he mends the sleds or interacts with the wonderful Inuit people, Since he is such a beautiful person, his thoughts, observations and reflections are equally beautiful,

Despite it sometimes reading like an apologia for his controversial companion Robert Peary, this book was an absolute pleasure! If you enjoy history, memoirs and travel, then you should pick up a copy of Hensons book.
A Story of Bravery and Grit,

'A N Explorer at the North Pole by Matthew Alexander Hanson is a story of absolute grit, passion and purpose,

From Cape Columbia onwards, walking on ice and deep snow, pulling halfaton sleds for hundreds of kilometres in the deathly cold whilst, either consciously or unconsciously knowing that, under you, rests absolute darkness and frozen death for at least a mile deep darkness that, sadly, Professor Marvin, Henson's colleague, met to his own demise.
In Henson's own words: ''My good, kind friend was never again to see us, or talk with us, It is sad to write this, He went back to his death, drowned in the cold, black water of the Big Lead, In unmarked, unmarbled grave, he sleeps his last, long sleep, '' Henson, Matthew Alexander. A N Explorer at the North Pole p,. Kindle Edition.

Hansons book is a demonstration of pure courage, dedication and comradeship in a time where segregation was still rampant the title of the book, which I have to necessarily censor every time I mention it, being a token of that statement.


A part of me believed, while reading, that the route to the pole was fairly straightforward, Very few incidents happened and the big challenges ended up being the journey in itself, which was monstrously heavy and long, You got to have an unshakeable sense of grit to move forward even though you know whats coming about half a thousand miles pulling a halfaton sled in sadistically frozen conditions, for weeks on end.
I have to say, Sisyphus condemnation to pushing a boulder up a hill for eternity doesnt look so bleak anymore,

I wish Hanson had talked more about how he felt about the journey, his impressions and thoughts on the events that happened along the journey.
Instead, the book ended up being laid out in a way that closely resembles the paragons of  captain logs  of ships and expeditions a bare description of the facts and nothing more.


That said, it was an interesting read, Recommended to those who love books about expeditions and adventures, Slightly less recommended to those who prefer books that discuss, indepth, how the protagonist felt and interpreted the events that happened to him, If thats you, you might not like the book that much, as you dont get to really meet who the man behind the pen is,

I'll give the book a/,

As a fan of polar expeditions and stories of survival in barren lands, I enjoyed the book, It's always fascinating to read firstperson accounts like these, No agenda from a thirdparty author, Just the thoughts amp feelings of the person it's happening to,

This is not a comprehensive detailing of all of Matthew Henson's Polar exploits, This book primarily focuses on his amp Peary's last push for the Pole, I just wish there was MORE! His writing is beautiful, and his love for the Arctic amp its people is evident page after page,

It's too bad Peary didn't allow him to publish this until, three years after their return amp the story had already been well told, but I for one, am glad Mr Henson got his story out to the world.
l thought this a solid book, albeit a bit dry and matter of fact, It is an accounting of the Peary Expedition to the North Pole in, Matthew Hensonwas an African American born in Maryland to parents who had been free sharecroppers before the Civil War, He eventually became Robert Peary's assistant on many of his expeditions,

Henson was part of the small group who reached the North Pole in, He said that his footsteps were first, Peary got the credit because it was his expedition, He was a rival of Frederick Cook who had also claimed to reach the Pole, but whose claims were discredited, It is uncertain if Peary reached his destination as well, or whether he was aboutmiles away,

This fact is almost irrelevant as this was just part of the accomplishments of these men, They had spent years learning the ways of the Inuit people in order to survive, Henson learned the language as well, This journey was an incredible feat and should be recognized as such,

I'm interested in learning more about Henson, There is a biography that he contributed to that is hard to find, The narration was perfectly good, but I wonder why no African American man has recorded this I wish this were in a more authentic voice,

This is myth book of Summer Listening Around the World and it was about as good as I had expected and hoped, A great writer could really put together an incredible biography of Henson, .