Black history month: Matthew Henson, explorer

[soleiltropiques]

Biography of Matthew Alexander Henson

Comments

[hey_spectrum]

Really interesting read. Thanks for posting!

[soleiltropiques]

You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed the post.

[booksforlunch]

Here's the relevant Kate Beaton comic:

http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=208

Henson was the second case of "awesome black people I never heard about and had to learn of from Hark! A vagrant!". The other was Mary Seacole, btw.

Between those two and Alexandre Dumas being black, I feel really cheated out of some really interesting child-hood heroes.

[rhysande]

Dumas was black? I had no idea. Sad that such an essential aspect of his life was never mentioned when I first learned of him.

[booksforlunch]

Yup.

The only reason I know about it because a few years back there was a fuss that Gerard Depardieu was supposed to play him in a movie, basically with a wig and a tan.

His grandmother was literally his grandfathers slave, and while his grandfather took his son with him, he sold the boy's mother.

Here's some info on the family, and a rad picture of Dumas' father, a general in Napoleons family: http://medievalpoc.tumblr.com/post/59864873401/1800s-week-olivier-pichat-general-thomas

[soleiltropiques]

There's actually a Pulitzer prize winning biography of Dumas' father, who was a general in the French Army (the author even hints that Napoleon was afraid/jealous of him as a potential political rival, "Napoleon took Dumas on his disastrous Egyptian campaign as his cavalry commander, where the two generals fell out and Dumas quit his command. When he was shipwrecked off Italy en route home from Egypt, he was imprisoned by the Bourbon king, Ferdinand I of Naples and Sicily. Reiss suggests that it was deliberate foot-dragging by a spiteful and jealous Napoleon that delayed his rival's release".

-http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/sep/28/black-count-tom-reiss-review
-http://www.pulitzer.org/works/2013-Biography-or-Autobiography

Pretty darn awesome. (FYI: I REALLY want to read that biography!)

[soleiltropiques]

You're welcome! Thanks for the really good suggestion.

[chaya]

Lj cut?

[soleiltropiques]

Fixed. Sorry about that!

[sio]

fascinating bit of history...thanks for sharing!

and it's pretty sad that this guy got ignored, despite Peary's constant reminders that his partner get his share of recognition.

[soleiltropiques]

You're so welcome!!

[romp]

I've seen him brought up more and more in the last 10 years. I'm just glad he received recognition in his lifetime.