Race to the North Pole: Topics in Chronicling America
Two scientists in the early 1900s both claimed to have dicovered the North Pole, sparking a scientific debate. This guide provices access to materials related to the "Race to the North Pole" in the Chronicling America digital collection of newspapers.
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About Chronicling America
Chronicling America is a searchable digital collection of historic newspaper pages through 1963 sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.
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Introduction
Competing claims of discovery of the North Pole by explorers Dr. Frederick Cook and Commander Robert E. Peary spark a fierce scientific debate that dotted the newspapers with controversy for years. Read more about it!
The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.
The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.
Timeline
September 2, 1909
New-York Tribune reports that Dr. Cook reached the North Pole on April 21, 1908.
September 7, 1909
New York Times reports that Peary reached the North Pole on April 6, 1909.
January 1911
Peary appears in front of the Naval Affairs Subcommittee to obtain official government recognition.
March 1911
President Taft signs a bill that recognizes Peary's "Arctic exploration"; does not credit Peary with discovery.