Peary's steamer Roosevelt, Hudson-Fulton Parade

The Peary Arctic Club was an American-based

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

with the goal of promoting the Arctic expeditions of

Robert Peary Robert Edwin Peary Sr. (; May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920) was an American explorer and officer in the United States Navy who made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best known for, in Apri ...

(1856–1920). This association of influential persons was able to overcome the opposition of the

U.S. Navy Department The United States Department of the Navy (DoN) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the United States of America. It was established by an Act of Congress on 30 April 1798, at the urging of Secretary of ...

to grant the indispensable five–year leave for Peary's 1898 Arctic expedition.

History

The Peary Arctic Club was founded in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1898 by a group of wealthy New York people. Its members were friends of Peary. The idea of establishing the club had been put forward by Morris K. Jesup in the spring 1897. One year after the foundation, Morris Jesup was elected in 1899 as the first president of the club. Henry W. Cannon became treasurer, Herbert Bridgman secretary and Frederick E. Hyde vice-president. Judge Charles P. Daly, president of the

American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows from around the ...

was elected to the executive committee of the club. In 1904, the club was able to raise funds to buy Peary a ship for his expeditions, the SS Roosevelt. The club's fundraising included generous gifts of $50,000 from George Crocker, the youngest son of banker

Charles Crocker Charles Crocker (September 16, 1822 – August 14, 1888) was an American railroad executive who was one of the founders of the Central Pacific Railroad, which constructed the westernmost portion of the first transcontinental railroad, and took ...

, and $25,000 from Morris K. Jesup. Following Morris Jesup's death in 1908, Thomas Hubbard was named president of the club and Zenas Crane was given the post of vice-president.Bruce Henderson, ''True North: Peary, Cook, and the Race to the Pole,'' p. 189 The club was extinguished after Peary's death in 1920.

Prominent members

* Herbert L. Bridgman * Henry W. Cannon *

Thomas Hamlin Hubbard Thomas Hamlin Hubbard (December 20, 1838 – May 19, 1915) was a Union Army colonel from Maine during the Civil War who was awarded the honorary grade of brevet brigadier general, United States Volunteers, for meritorious service. After the wa ...

* E. C. Benedict * E. W. Bliss * Charles P. Daly *James J. Hill *Henry H. Benedict *Frederick E. Hyde *John M. Flagler *H. Hayden Sands *James M. Constable *

Clarence F. Wyckoff Clarence may refer to: Places Australia * Clarence County, New South Wales, a Cadastral division * Clarence, New South Wales, a place near Lithgow * Clarence River (New South Wales) * Clarence Strait (Northern Territory) * City of Clarence, a loca ...

*Edward G. Wyckoff *Henry Parish * A. A. Raven * Grant B. Schley *Eben B. Thomas *

James W. Davidson James Wheeler Davidson (14 June 1872 – 18 July 1933) was an American-born Canadian businessman, diplomat, explorer, journalist, and philanthropist. He is remembered for writing ''The Island of Formosa, Past and Present'' (1903), a book on th ...

Honors

A number of geographic features in

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

were named after members of the club, including: *

Benedict Fjord Benedict Fjord is a fjord in Peary Land, northern Greenland. To the north, the fjord opens into the Lincoln Sea of the Arctic Ocean. The fjord was named by Robert Peary in honor of New York banker and yachtsman E. C. Benedict, one of the prominen ...

Bliss Bay Bliss Bay ( da, Bliss Bugt) is a bay in the Wandel Sea, Northern Greenland. The area of the bay is uninhabited. Administratively Bliss Bay and its surroundings belong to the Northeast Greenland National Park. Bliss Bay is clogged by fast ice year ...

Cape Bridgman Cape Bridgman ( da, Kap Bridgman) is a headland in the Wandel Sea, Arctic Ocean, northeast Greenland. The cape was named by Robert Peary after Herbert L. Bridgman, one of the members of the Peary Arctic Club in New York. Geography Cape Bridg ...

Cape Cannon Cape Cannon ( da, Kap Cannon) is a headland in the Lincoln Sea, Arctic Ocean, North Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park. The cape was named by Robert Peary after Henry W. Cannon, one of the members of ...

Cape Henry Parish Cape Henry Parish ( da, Kap Henry Parish) is a broad headland in the Wandel Sea, Arctic Ocean, northernmost Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park. History In 1900 Peary explored the north coast of Greenla ...

Cape James Hill Cape James Hill ( da, Kap James Hill) is a headland in the Wandel Sea, Arctic Ocean, northeast Greenland. The cape was named by Robert Peary after James J. Hill, one of the members of the Peary Arctic Club in New York City, New York. Geography C ...

* Cape John Flagler *

Cape Morris Jesup Cape Morris Jesup ( da, Kap Morris Jesup) is a headland in Peary Land, Greenland. Geography Cape Morris Jesup is the northernmost point of mainland Greenland. It is from the North Pole#Geographic North Pole, geographic North Pole. It is located ...

, the northernmost point of Greenland *

Cape Thomas Hubbard Cape Thomas Hubbard is a headland located in the northern Canadian territory of Nunavut. Projecting into the Arctic Ocean, it is situated on the northern tip of Axel Heiberg Island, from Etah, Greenland. History It was reached by Robert Peary in ...

Cape Wyckoff Cape Clarence Wyckoff ( da, Kap Clarence Wyckoff), also known as Cape Wyckoff, is a broad headland in the Wandel Sea, Arctic Ocean, northernmost Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park. History In 1900 Pea ...

Constable Bay Constable Bay ( da, Constable Bugt) is a bay in the Wandel Sea, Northern Greenland. Administratively Constable Bay and its surroundings belong to the Northeast Greenland National Park. Constable Bay is the northernmost bay in the world. The area ...

Daly Range The Daly Range or Daly Mountains ( da, Daly Bjerge) is a mountain range in Peary Land, Northern Greenland. Administratively this range is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park. It forms the eastern end of the northernmost mountain range ...

Frederick E. Hyde Fjord Frederick E. Hyde Fjord is a fjord in Peary Land, far northern Greenland. History The fjord was named by Robert Peary during his 1900 expedition after Frederick Erastus Hyde, one of the founding members and first vice-president of the Peary Arct ...

* G. B. Schley Fjord * H. H. Benedict Range *

Judge Daly Promontory The Judge Daly Promontory is a peninsula located on the eastern coast of Ellesmere Island, a part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the Provinces and Territories of Canada, Canadian territory of Nunavut. It stretches from the southwest northeastward int ...

Morris Jesup Glacier Morris Jesup Glacier ( da, Morris Jesup Gletscher, is a glacier in northwestern Greenland. Administratively it belongs to the Avannaata municipality. This glacier was named by Robert Peary after American industrialist-philanthropist Morris K. J ...

* Mount Daly * Mount Davidson * Mount Henry Parish * Mount Schley *

Mount Wyckoff Mount Clarence Wyckoff ( da, Clarence Wyckoff Fjeld or ''Clarence Wyckoff Bjerg'') is a mountain in Peary Land, Northern Greenland. Administratively the mountain belongs to the Northeast Greenland National Park.Google Maps The peak was named a ...

Raven Glacier Raven Glacier is a glacier in northern Greenland. Administratively it belongs to the Northeast Greenland National Park. The glacier was named by Robert Peary after Anton A. Raven, one of the founding members of the Peary Arctic Club in New Y ...

Sands Fjord Sands Fjord is a fjord in Peary Land, northern Greenland. To the north, the fjord opens into the Lincoln Sea of the Arctic Ocean. Administratively it belongs to the Northeast Greenland National Park. The fjord was named by Robert Peary in honor ...

Thomas Glacier Thomas Glacier () is a roughly Z-shaped glacier which drains the southeast slopes of Vinson Massif and flows for 17 nautical miles (31 km) through the south part of the Sentinel Range, Ellsworth Mountains, leaving the range between Doyra ...

* Wyckoff Island *

Wyckoff Land Wyckoff Land is an area or peninsula in Peary Land, Northern Greenland. This geographic feature was named by Robert Peary after Clarence F. Wyckoff, one of the founding members of the Peary Arctic Club in New York. History When Robert Peary r ...

Bibliography

*Robert E. Peary, ''Nearest the Pole: A Narrative of the Polar Expedition of the Peary Arctic Club in the S. S. Roosevelt, 1905 -1906.'' *Robert E. Peary, ''The North Pole'' (Illustrated) *''Peary Arctic Club : objects of the club, plan of campaign, description of new ship.'' Lotus Press, New York. 1905
''North Polar Exploration: Field Work of the Peary Arctic Club 1898-1902'', Scientific American, 1904

References

{{Reflist

External links

Iceberg. Peary Arctic Club Relief Expedition of 1901Departure of the "Windward" - JSTOR

Peary Arctic Club's North Polar Expedition Photo Album
at Dartmouth College Library Organizations established in 1898 Organizations based in New York City Clubs and societies in New York City 1898 establishments in New York City