Matthew Alexander Henson (1866-1955), US explorer, wearing fur clothing. Henson accompanied Robert Peary (1856-1920) on his expedition to the North Pole (1909). Henson, who learnt the local Inuit languages, fathered a son with an Inuit woman. Henson was the grandson of Josiah Henson, a famous runaway slave and author. Matthew Henson wrote A Negro Explorer at the North Pole (1912) and a biography Dark Companion (1947). Photograph published in 1910.