An Unsung Black Explorer, Matthew Henson, Was First at the North Pole

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'Matthew Henson' by Michael Gilman

According to some historians, 42-year-old Henson accomplished the feat as companion of, and experienced guide for the renowned Adm. Robert E. Peary. The latter was accorded the honor, and always refused to acknowledge what Henson did.

Dark Companion, a screenplay based on Henson’s co-authored 1948 book, was written by a white New Yorker, Michael Gilman. And it is engrossing. More on this later. 

Henson’s achievement as a Black man and key pathfinder in the historic polar exploration headed by Peary always intrigued me. Something is irresistible about the human struggle against nature’s elements in the name of ego, adventure and science. 

Nowhere is this more evident than at the North and South Poles, with their tradition of heroism and broken dreams. The frozen tundra, mammoth icebergs and midnight sun are, quite simply, vast, trackless wastes at the top and bottom of the world.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the seemingly unattainable Polar regions were among the last unexplored, uncharted areas. Thus, men from a number of countries set out to conquer their daunting cold and endless ice and snow. 

In addition to Henson and Peary, other legendary names were Fridtjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen, of Norway; Ireland’s Ernest Shackleton; Scotland’s Sir James Ross; England’s Capt. Robert Scott; Italy’s Gen. Umberto Nobile; and America’s Dr. Frederick Cook and Adm. Richard Byrd. All succeeded to a degree—and some met tragic ends.

Owing to his race, Henson—a Maryland native with 22 years’ experience in arctic exploration—was the most noteworthy. And author Gilman is convinced it was Henson, not Peary, who took that first giant step for mankind. He expounded on this to me when I was a New York Daily News columnist.

Then a manager at Abbey Pub, Gilman said he learned of Henson by listening to Stevie Wonder’s 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life. A decade later he began the work.

“One of my bar customers, a talent scout for Chelsea House Publishers, told me about ‘Black Americans of Achievement,’ a series of 50 short books. They needed authors,” said Gilman, who’d written fiction and newspaper commentaries. He agreed to take on Henson, doing much of his exhaustive research at Harlem’s famed Schomburg Library. 

“Like Peary, Henson was an experienced arctic explorer,” Gilman noted. “He could read a compass and make critical wind corrections. And it was logical for Henson, due to his youth and awesome physical strength, to break the trail that fateful April 6 morning.

“After Henson and his party of Eskimos reached what he felt was the North Pole, the Eskimos bowed in all directions —always facing south. Henson returned to a point about three miles away, made camp and awaited Peary. When the admiral arrived and Henson told him, he took readings and also determined they were about three miles away.”

According to Gilman, Henson reiterated that he had been there, but Peary refused to acknowledge him or shake his hand. Subsequent revelations, based on computer-enhanced photographic evidence in 1989, support Peary being first. But Gilman differs.

“Peary was a superior-acting type,” Gilman said, “and although he had the sense to choose the impressive Henson as his exploration companion in 1892, treated him with respect and valued his contributions, he just wasn’t up to sharing the glory with him.”

While there always will be controversy over which of the two men actually was first at the North Pole—with racism undoubtedly playing a part—Henson’s key role is not in doubt by honest polar historians. In recent years, his recognition has soared. Yet, he remains virtually unknown to many Americans, Black and white.

After two attempts, Gilman’s manuscript was accepted, he was given a $2,500 advance and his short book, Matthew Henson, Explorer, was published. In recent years, he’s been seeking a movie studio to produce his subsequent screenplay. He said he wrote more than 150 letters and contacted nearly 100 directors, including Oliver Stone, Robert Redford and the late Louis Malle. Meanwhile, Scott of the Antarctic (1948), with John Mills, Derek Bond and James Robertson Justice; and The Red Tent (1971), with Peter Finch and Sean Connery, have been produced. Rugged Samm-Art Williams portrayed Henson in the 1983 film Cook & Peary: The Race to the Pole, co-starring Richard Chamberlain and Rod Steiger.

In a Dark Companion movie, Gilman said he would choose James Earl Jones to narrate, Denzel Washington as Henson and Michael Douglas or Robert Redford as Peary. He said the late Sidney Pollack, who directed Redford in Jeremiah Johnson, would have been fine for Dark Companion. 

A big screen or TV movie of his book would be a feast for those like me who love real-life explorer adventures—and a source of pride for Black Americans.