Matthew Henson

CTL-E-6229 · Person · other · 1866–1955

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07424 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-6229.

Matthew Alexander Henson, born in Maryland in 1866, was the Arctic explorer who accompanied Robert E. Peary on the expeditions that claimed the North Pole on April 6, 1909. Orphaned as a boy, he went to work on a sailing ship at about thirteen, where the ship's skipper taught him to read and write. In 1887, working as a store clerk in Washington, D.C., he was hired by naval officer Robert Peary, then preparing an expedition to Nicaragua. Henson became Peary's most trusted expedition member: a navigator and craftsman who learned the Inuit language and survival skills, accompanied Peary on repeated Arctic expeditions, and, by his own account, arrived at the party's North Pole camp forty-five minutes ahead of Peary in 1909. Peary received most of the credit at the time, a slight Britannica attributes in part to racial prejudice against Henson as an African American. Henson told his own story in his 1912 book A Negro Explorer at the North Pole. He died in New York City on March 9, 1955. In 1988 he was reburied at Arlington National Cemetery beside Peary, and in 2000 the National Geographic Society awarded him its Hubbard Medal posthumously.

The record

• Also known as: Matthew Alexander Henson, Matthew A. Henson

Notes

Staged 2026-10-16 under CTL-GOV-006 (Scan Tail Wave 6 — 747 Program, Wave 13; sixth Scan Tail packet at the founder’s 40-record size). Gate A (2026-10-16): Gate A CLEAR (script + hand-checked 2026-10-16): no Matthew Henson entity, alias, or variant in the live graph (3,910 entities). ID CTL-E-6229 free at staging. Supply: 747 Supply Ledger — scan string #2440 (corpus-gap-candidates-2026-10-15.json), banked in the Scan Tail Wave 5 reserve (Appendix E), re-screened CLEAR against the live graph at 3,910 entities by this wave. The supply supplied the name only; every fact is sourced under CTL-GOV-004. SCOPE GATE: National/global record (Maryland, Washington D.C., the Arctic); no Chicago angle in the opened sources and none claimed. Carried for the graph's exploration/science line. The North Pole attainment is stated throughout as the expedition's claim — the Smithsonian frames it as 'what they believed to be the North Pole' and Britannica as what Henson believed he had reached — and the description keeps that framing. Vital status: Born in Maryland in 1866 (all three opened sources agree on year and state). DAY CONFLICT, shown not blended: Britannica Kids gives August 8, 1866; National Geographic gives August 6, 1866. The description therefore carries only the year. Died March 9, 1955, in New York City (Britannica Kids; the Smithsonian gives the years 1866-1955). Deceased — verified. STATISTICS — Expedition counts differ by source framing and are NOT blended: Britannica Kids states Peary and Henson made seven expeditions to the Arctic; the Smithsonian states Henson had accompanied Peary on four earlier expeditions before the 1908-1909 attempt; National Geographic describes repeated attempts including the 1906 Roosevelt voyage and the final 1908-1909 expedition, and gives 246 dogs and 70 tons of provisions for the final expedition's support (the Smithsonian gives the same 246 dogs / seventy tons figures for 1908-1909 — consistent). Arrival framing: Britannica Kids says Henson arrived an hour before Peary; National Geographic, following Henson's account, says 45 minutes ahead at Camp Jesup, 89°47'. Both are reported as their sources state them. MEDIA: photo HELD (HELD — candidate: the photograph of Henson in Arctic dress carried on the opened Britannica Kids Matthew Henson entry (Britannica image file 82602-004). No license claimed or verified; HELD under CTL-PHOTO-001 pending a file-level record. The Smithsonian page's image is a painting of Peary and Henson, not a photograph, and is not the photo candidate.); chart FILLED (charts/chart-ctl-e-6229-matthew-henson.svg); video HELD (Checked the CTL Shorts Link Map (shorts-link-map-2026-10-15.json, 233 entries) by name and title on 2026-10-16: no Matthew Henson entry and no near-miss. Video HELD.); audio HELD (no rights-cleared matching-entity audio staged); map N/A. MEDIA LAYER (staged 2026-10-16; full per-asset PHOTO-001 records + embed specs in the packet's staged JSON, Drive packet folder): map = N/A (Person records carry no map slot; maps attach to places and institutions.) | visual_assets = HELD: | chart = FILLED (CTL-created chart (black / deep red / gold) built only from this record’s sourced statistics and timeline fact) | video = HELD (Checked the CTL Shorts Link Map (shorts-link-map-2026-10-15.json, 233 entries) by name and title on 2026-10-16) | audio = HELD (HELD: No CTL-owned or rights-cleared matching-entity audio exists at staging.)

Sources

• Smithsonian American Art Museum, Commodore Peary and Henson at the North Pole (artwork record) (accessed 2026-10-16) — Matthew Henson (1866-1955); hired by U.S. naval officer Robert Peary (1856-1920) in 1887 as his personal valet; by April 6, 1909, when they planted a flag on what they believed to be the North Pole, Henson was a co-equal explorer who had accompanied Peary on four earlier Arctic expeditions; the 1908-1909 expedition was supported by more than fifty people, most of them Inuit, 246 dogs, and seventy tons of provisions; Henson published A Negro Explorer at the North Pole in 1912; his role was eclipsed until the 1940s, when Congress awarded him and five others silver medals — http://americanart.si.edu/artwork/commodore-peary-and-henson-north-pole-11624 (primary source · build store)
• Britannica Kids, Matthew Henson (accessed 2026-10-16) — Matthew Alexander Henson born in Maryland on August 8, 1866; went to work on a sailing ship at about 13; became Peary's assistant in 1887; Peary and Henson made seven expeditions to the Arctic; on April 6, 1909, Henson arrived alone at what he believed to be the North Pole, an hour before Peary joined him; Peary received most of the credit in part because Henson was an African American and racial prejudice kept him from credit; died in New York City on March 9, 1955; reburied at Arlington National Cemetery in 1988 beside Peary — https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/Matthew-Henson/399967 (build store)
• National Geographic, Profile: African-American North Pole Explorer Matthew Henson (accessed 2026-10-16) — Accompanied Peary on the April 6, 1909 North Pole expedition; posthumously awarded the National Geographic Society's Hubbard Medal in 2000, accepted by his great-niece Audrey Mebane; met Peary in Washington, D.C. in 1887 while working as a store clerk and was hired as a valet; gives Henson's birth as August 6, 1866, in Maryland (see conflict note); Henson arrived at Camp Jesup 45 minutes ahead of Peary on April 6, 1909, by his account; reinterred at Arlington National Cemetery in 1988 — https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/profile-african-american-north-pole-explorer-matthew-henson (build store)

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Record CTL-E-6229 · Combined Graph record U-07424 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 3 sources.
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