A Negro Explorer at the North Pole

Matthew A. Henson (1866 - 1955)

In this fascinating memoir, Matthew Henson describes the incredibly dangerous, exhausting, and bone-chilling trip to what was until then the never-before reached point on earth, the North Pole.

"Robert Peary is remembered as the intrepid explorer who successfully reached the North Pole in 1909. Far less celebrated is his companion, Matthew Henson, a black man from Maryland. Henson's gripping memoir, first published in 1912, tells this unsung hero's story in his own words. Henson...was indispensable to the famous explorer's journey; he learned the language of the Eskimos, was an expert dog-sled driver and even built the sleds...." (Publishers Weekly)

"An original document.... One of the giants of polar exploration, Henson had the graceful modesty of genuinely big men.... The world would know even more about him now if his commander, Peary, had been less an egotist and more generous in sharing credit for his discovery of the North Pole." (Washington Post Book World)

"A really valuable addition to the literature of [polar exploration].... Filled with incident, occupation, description, emotion, [and] comment." (The New York Times)

Genre(s): Memoirs, Exploration

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 00 Forward; Introducton Lee Smalley
00:09:59
Play 01 Chapter 1 Lee Smalley
00:16:09
Play 02 Chapter 2 Lee Smalley
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Play 03 Chapter 3 Lee Smalley
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Play 04 Chapter 4 Lee Smalley
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Play 05 Chapter 5 Lee Smalley
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Play 06 Chapter 6 Lee Smalley
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Play 07 Chapter 7 Lee Smalley
00:11:50
Play 08 Chapter 8 Lee Smalley
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Play 09 Chapter 9 Lee Smalley
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Play 10 Chapter 10 Lee Smalley
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Play 11 Chapter 11 Lee Smalley
00:17:10
Play 12 Chapter 12 Lee Smalley
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Play 13 Chapter 13 Lee Smalley
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Play 14 Chapter 14 Lee Smalley
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Play 15 Chapter 15 Lee Smalley
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Play 16 Chapter 16 Lee Smalley
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Play 17 Chapter 17 Lee Smalley
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Play 18 Chapter 18 Lee Smalley
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Play 19 Chapter 19 Lee Smalley
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Play 20 Chapter 20 Lee Smalley
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Play 21 Chapter 21 Lee Smalley
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