The secret's out: Harvard professor says

"The problem with long introductions is that they make you sound too important," said Professor S. Allen Counter, director of the Harvard Foundation and neurophysiologist at Harvard Medical School.\n"And too old," he added, eliciting laughter from the crowd gathered to hear him speak about the North Pole Monday afternoon in Jordan Hall. \nThe tall, striking man dressed in a navy suit supported the humility of his words by traveling around the front of the room, shaking hands vigorously and laughing heartily with those who spoke to him before the lecture: "Matthew Henson and the North Pole Secret".\nCounter's speech -- originally slated for Oct. 8 -- was delayed because of potential flight difficulties. His first flight coincided closely with the start of U.S. attacks in Afghanistan. The lecture was part of the James P. Holland Memorial Lecture Series, organized by the Office of the Vice President for Student Development, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, and the Department of Biology in honor of James P. Holland, Professor of Biology.\nAbout a year after Holland died of cancer in 1998, biology Professor Tom Donahue was involved in the development of a fellowship for first-year graduate students under-represented in life sciences. Around the same time, a colleague suggested that a lecture series in Holland's name be established. \nMonday marked the second year that IU has presented the series, which features a speaker annually. The lecture series was intended to bring awareness and support of diversity in the life sciences while honoring the legacy of Holland, who worked in IU's biology department for over 30 years. \nProfessor Peter Cherbas, director of the Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics, suggested Counter as this year's featured speaker. \n"He is an outstanding neurobiologist, active in the investigating and studying of the career of Matthew Henson," said Cherbas, who attended Harvard University with Counter. "He is also a very dynamic and colorful speaker." \nGloria Gibson, associate vice chancellor for the Office of Multicultural Affairs, said that choosing Counter "celebrates the life of Dr. Holland and his accomplishments." \nBut this year's lecture is interesting beyond that, Gibson said.\n"It brings a noted African-American scientist to share his research," she said. "It involves many other disciplines. It also has a crossover appeal because it balances science and African American history." \nCounter began his exploration into the North Pole with a grant proposal in the mid-1980s to study the hearing loss of Inuit hunters in Greenland. One night in the home of his professor, he spoke to a man about the Inuit of Greenland. The man mentioned having seen Inuit of lighter skin tones. What was peculiar, Counter noted, was that the man also mentioned that some Inuit had darker skin than others. \nCounter's research into the North Pole exploration by the first group of Americans including Adm. Robert Peary led him to wonder if the Inuit with darker skin had been descendants of Matthew Henson. Henson was an African-American explorer who traveled with Peary and who was actually the only other American to reach the North Pole. \nCounter's visit to Greenland led him to discover what he now deems the "North Pole Secret." In one area, he found all the native Inuit laughing at him. They told him that there was one village that he must visit. When he arrived at this village, everyone there laughed at him too. He finally found the answers he was looking for. \nOut of one hut came an Inuit man with dark skin. This man, Anaukaq, thought that because of his dark skin Counter was his father. Counter was looking at the face of the 80-year-old Inuit son of Matthew Henson. \nHe also met the man who Anaukag referred to as his "cousin," because they were both raised by brothers. This man was Kali, the 81-year-old Inuit son of Robert Peary. \nBoth men expressed to Counter their dream of visiting their fathers' lands. They wanted to find their relatives and lay wreaths of the graves of their fathers. When the men were brought back to see the cemeteries that their fathers rested in, Anaukaq Henson wondered why Kali's father, who was given a monument in Arlington National Cemetery, lay in such a beautiful place while his own father's grave, in a cemetery in New York, was so common. \nCounter petitioned then-President Ronald Reagan to move the grave of Henson near that of Peary's in Arlington National Cemetery. It took some time, as Counter had to demonstrate that Henson was a member of the military before he could be placed in the cemetery. But a few years after Counter first discovered the secret of the North pole explorers, Henson's grave was moved next to that of Peary's and a monument placed there in his honor.