Matthew Alexander Henson was born in Charles County, Maryland, on 8th August, 1866. After the death of his parents, Henson went to sea at the age of 12. He worked as a cabin boy before meeting Robert E. Peary, who employed him as a valet.

In 1888 Henson accompanied Robert E. Peary to Nicaragua. Henson possessed considerable abilities of endurance, and joined Peary on seven expeditions to the Arctic (1891-92, 1893-95, 1896, 1897, 1898-1902, 1905-06 and 1908-09). On their final expedition in 1909, Henson, Peary and seven Eskimos became the first men to reach the North Pole.

After his return to the United States, President William Taft appointed Henson as clerk in the U. S. Customs House in New York City (1913-1936). Henson, who published an account of his Arctic expeditions, A Negro Explorer at the North Pole (1912), was awarded the Congressional Medal by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944. Matthew Alexander Henson died in New York on 9th March, 1955.