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Henson, Matthew Alexander

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Henson was orphaned as a boy and was mistreated by his uncle. He ran away and lived on the streets for a while, until he was taken in by a Miss Janey, who ran a café where he worked and where he slept on the floor. He wanted to go to sea and a few years later walked to Baltimore, where he signed on as a cabin boy. His captain taught him until he died in 1882.

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Then after a series of dead-end jobs he took a job in a hat shop, where he met Admiral Perry, a customer. Perry hired him as his assistant and they stayed together for 23 years. Henson saved the lives of Perry's expedition to Greenland in 1888 and learned fluent Inuit. On a later expedition he saved Perry's life again, and in 1909 Henson was the first non-Inuit to reach the north pole, 45 minutes before Perry, but because he was Black his primacy has been ignored. He also fathered several African-Inuit children, and there are still Inuit who acknowledge him as their ancestor.

References

Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia, 1993-97
Dictionary of American Biography
The Life of Matthew Henson, edited by Bertram A. Fitzgerald, Jr. (Dix Hills: Fitzgerald Pub. Co., 1969) (Golden Legacy series)
Gilman, Michael. Matthew Henson. (New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1988) (Black Americans of Achievement)
Ferris, Jeri. Arctic Explorer: The Story of Matthew Henson. (Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, 1989)
Henson, Matthew. A Negro Explorer at the North Pole. (Grand Rapids: Candace Press, 1996) (The Heritage Series; 10)
"Matthew Henson." [Includes portrait]. Available at: http://tqd.advanced.org/3337/mhenson.html

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19th Century
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Exploration, Adventure
Multiple or Unspecified
Orphaned (Both Parents)
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Customary or Traditional Adoption, Informal and Extra-Legal Care
Street Children, Children Who Grew up Without Adult Supervision (at Least Temporarily), or Ran Away
Child Left Care While Still a Child, but With New Parents' Blessing
Parent(s) Died, Disappeared or Became Incapacitated
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