90 years "better late than never"

National Geographic Society (NGS) Honors Henson with same medal given to Robert E. Peary, Neil Armstrong, Jane Goodall, and other distinguished individuals. Matthew Henson was posthumously awarded the National Geographic Society's highest honor: the Hubbard Medal ... Society president John Fahey presented Matthew Henson's great niece, Audrey Mebane, with the Hubbard Medal at the Matthew Henson Earth Conservation Center.

"The honor is long overdue," said Fahey. The medal recognized Henson¹s role in several arctic expeditions with Robert E. Peary, including their historic 1909 trek to the North Pole. "I had always been told by my grandmother that there was a black man on the 1909 expedition," said Allen Counter, director of Harvard University's Harvard Foundation, ... "She took great pride in saying that." Counter has become one of Henson's strongest proponents, researching Henson's polar treks and asking organizations, including National Geographic, to properly recognize the African American explorer. By Jennifer Mapes November 29, 2000