---
title: Explorer Mat Henson - Only Living American to Set Foot on the North Pole
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/owi-alston-explorer-mat-henson-1943/
description: 'A pencil biographical panel shows a hooded portrait of Mat Henson and four vignettes: Henson and a companion in a jungle.'
section: Collection
---

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3. Explorer Mat Henson - Only Living American to Set Foot on the North

[![Explorer Mat Henson - Only Living American to Set Foot on the North Pole, 1943 US cartoon: A pencil biographical panel shows](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/owi-alston-explorer-mat-henson-1943.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/owi-alston-explorer-mat-henson-1943.jpg)

# Explorer Mat Henson - Only Living American to Set Foot on the North Pole

A pencil biographical panel shows a hooded portrait of Mat Henson and four vignettes: Henson and a companion in a jungle, three figures in furs by an igloo, and a figure planting a flag on the ice. Captions describe his career with Peary and quote Commander MacMillan that Henson planted the flag while Peary sat exhausted on the sledge. The technique is a weak fit for card-stacking: the panel presents one favourable account of a disputed polar claim without competing views.

## Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon

[Card stacking](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/card-stacking/)

## Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
EXPLORER
MAT HENSON
ONLY LIVING AMERICAN TO SET FOOT ON THE NORTH POLE.

HENSON, FAMED AS AN ARCTIC EXPLORER, BEGAN HIS CAREER IN THE JUNGLES OF CENTRAL AMERICA! - PEARY, SO IMPRESSED WITH YOUNG HENSON'S ABILITY, KEPT HIM AS HIS LIEUTENANT ON ALL HIS SUBSEQUENT EXPLORATIONS.

HENSON'S GREAT KNOWLEDGE OF ESKIMO LIFE AND LANGUAGE, AND HIS ENGAGING PERSONALITY, MADE HIM THE MOST INDISPENSABLE MEMBER OF THE EXPEDITION. - FOR THE FINAL DASH TO THE POLE, PEARY CHOSE FIVE MEN - FOUR ESKIMOS AND MAT HENSON!

ACCORDING TO COMMANDER MACMILLAN, IT WAS HENSON, WHO ACTUALLY PLANTED THE STARS AND STRIPES ON TOP OF THE WORLD, WHILE PEARY, EXHAUSTED AND ILL, SAT ON THE SLEDGE AND FEEBLY WAVED HIS HAND

[signature] Alston for OWI
```

[← Do Your Canning Job - I'll Do Mine!!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/owi-alston-do-your-canning-job-1943/) [Felix Eboue', Governor General Fighting French Africa - Scholar, Statesman, Soldier →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/owi-alston-felix-eboue-fighting-french-africa-1943/)

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