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.

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

Indexes

African
USA
19th Century
20th Century
Exploration, Adventure
Multiple or Unspecified
Orphaned (Both Parents)
Child Ran Away or Left Home to Work
Others ("Strangers")
Single Adopters or Fosterers
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