"Matt, I hope you've learned aboard the Harriet Gay that any man who behaves like a man deserves to be treated as one. But never forget, all your life you'll have to prove that you're a man—not only to others but to yourself as well. After all, that's not so unusual. Every man must do the same, whether he's black or white. If you respect yourself, other men will respect you, too."

Young Matt Henson's belief in personal integrity was shaken deeply when he saw his courageous father—the strongest man in Charles County, Maryland—hide in fear of the masked riders of the Ku Klux Klan.  Shortly after that, still puzzled by his father's seeming weakness, he joined the crew of the Harriet Gay as cabin boy and ran into the wall of race prejudice for the first time, in New Orleans. Matt Henson was an American Negro.

The shock of discovery was very severe, but he soon learned that as a member of a ship's crew—and as a member of the human race—he must learn to live with other men, not alone. He developed into a hardworking, outstandingly able sailor, and his ability was recognized by a Lieutenant Peary who needed competent assistance for his work on the Nicaragua Canal. In the years that followed, Henson's career at the side of the great explorer Peary proved to Matt and to many others around the world that what a man does indicates his worth—not the color of his skin.

Matthew Henson was the only American with Admiral Peary when the North Pole was located. Together they and four Eskimos reached the Pole on April 6, 1909, after several unsuccessful expeditions. This is the story of an unusual hero—the story of a man determined to succeed by the merits of his own abilities and by the rewards of unfailing, dedicated service.

From the book

Author's Note

In writing about Matt Henson, I have tried to pick out the events in and around his boyhood that shaped his life and led him to become the man he was. For example, there were the people he met who saw only the color of his skin. They filled him with determination to prove that a Negro deserved the same rights as any man. Then there was his voyage to China and around the world. It taught him to respect other people and their customs just as he wished to be respected both as a Negro and as a man.

But it was his meeting with Peary that was the turning point of his life. It began a twenty-year association between two brave men who shared the same goal. They found in each other the qualities they admired most -- courage, loyalty, and determination.

This is Matt's story. In telling it I was lucky to have the help of people who knew Matt as an explorer and afterwards. A word about the use of quotations in this book: Are these the words that Matt Henson, Admiral Peary, and the others actually spoke? In some cases they are. Most of them, however, are what I imagine the people might have said. No one was there to write down each word as it was spoken. So when you see quotations, remember that they tell what a person is saying although perhaps not in exactly the same words he used at the time.

More important, remember that this is the story of a real hero -- soft-spoken, modest, and as brave as any man who ever lived.

Sheldon N. Ripley