The Peary Arctic Club was an American-based club with the goal of promoting the Arctic expeditions of Robert Peary (1856–1920).Peary Arctic Club Expedition to the North Pole, 1908-9

This association of influential persons was able to overcome the opposition of the U.S. Navy Department to grant the indispensable five–year leave for Peary's 1898 Arctic expedition.Robert Edwin Peary Encyclopedia Arctica 15: Biographies

History The Peary Arctic Club was founded in New York City 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 secretaryThe New York Times, Relief Expedition of the Peary Arctic Club, June 23, 1901 and Frederick E. Hyde vice-president. Judge Charles P. Daly, president of the American Geographical Society was elected to the executive committee of the club.R. E. Peary, Report of RE Peary, CE, USN, on Work Done in the Arctic in 1898-1902, 1903 - JSTOR

In 1904, the club was able to raise funds to buy Peary a ship for his expeditions, the SS Roosevelt.Shona Grimbly (ed.), Atlas of Exploration, p. 224 The club's fundraising included generous gifts of $50,000 from George Crocker, the youngest son of banker Charles Crocker, 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 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 Edward G. Wyckoff Henry Parish A. A. Raven Grant B. Schley Eben B. Thomas James W. Davidson

Honors A number of geographic features in Greenland and Canada were named after members of the club, including:

Benedict Fjord Bliss Bay Cape Bridgman Cape Cannon Cape Henry Parish Cape James Hill Cape John Flagler Cape Morris Jesup, the northernmost point of Greenland Cape Thomas Hubbard Cape Wyckoff Constable Bay Daly Range Frederick E. Hyde Fjord G. B. Schley Fjord H. H. Benedict Range Judge Daly Promontory Morris Jesup Glacier Mount Daly Mount Davidson Mount Henry Parish Mount Schley Mount Wyckoff Raven Glacier Sands Fjord Thomas Glacier Wyckoff Island Wyckoff Land

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

External links Iceberg. Peary Arctic Club Relief Expedition of 1901 Discovery of the North Pole, Chapter 28 Marie Peary Stafford's Journal Departure of the "Windward" - JSTOR Peary Arctic Club's North Polar Expedition Photo Album at Dartmouth College Library