The
Frederick A. Cook Society Collection
A low-res image CD is now available to users who wish
to browse parts of the Cook image collection. The cost for the
CD is only $25 and includes about 1000 images. Researchers
interested in purchasing the cd should contact the
polar curator
Dr. Frederick A. Cook (1865-1940) is the most
controversial figure in the history of polar exploration. His
supporters maintain that Dr. Cook was the hero of the Belgian
Antarctic Expedition, the first to climb Mount McKinley, the
first to stand at the North Pole, and the victim of merciless
and unrelenting persecution by Robert Peary and those who
supported Peary's claim to have reached the pole first. Others
believe that Dr. Cook faked his claims to both Mount McKinley
and the North Pole and continued a career of deceit by using the
mail to defraud investors in oil lands in Texas, for which Dr.
Cook spent five years in federal prison (Cook eventually
received a presidential pardon for this conviction).
In 1891 Dr. Frederick Albert Cook began his career as an
explorer as a member of Peary's first expedition to North
Greenland, where he served as Peary's surgeon and as
ethnologist. In 1897, Cook volunteered for the Belgian Antarctic
Expedition, and achieved international recognition in his role
of surgeon and photographer. He made important scientific
discoveries on this expedition, including the effect of eating
raw meat in order to cure the ship's crew of scurvy. Cook also
served a critical role on this expedition in his efforts to
release the frozen
Belgica by sawing a canal in the ice. In
1901, Cook joined the
Erik,
in a relief expedition for Peary, sponsored by the Peary Arctic
Club.
In 1903 and 1906 successively, Cook embarked on his first and
second expeditions to Mount McKinley, and in 1906 claimed to
have reached the summit. In 1907, Cook made his quest to the
North Pole, and claimed to have reached the Pole on April 21,
1908. However, drifting ice prohibited his southward return, and
he was forced to spend the Polar night in a shelter with his two
Eskimo companions. It wasn't until September 1, 1909 that Cook
announced his discovery of the North Pole. A week later, Peary
denounced Cook as a fraud and claimed that he, Peary, had in
fact reached the North Pole first. In October of 1909, Cook's
Mount McKinley climbing partner, Ed Barrill published an
affidavit in which he stated that Cook's Mount McKinley diary
was false and that his picture of the summit was a fake. It
should be noted here that Barrill reportedly received $5000 for
his statement (the exact amount of the payment to Barrill is
unknown). Cook was unable to discredit the charges of Peary and
Barrill. Although Cook continued to defend his claims, a
downward spiral in Cook's career and reputation had commenced.
In 1917 Dr. Cook was hired by New York Oil to prospect for oil
based on his knowledge of geology, and he eventually became
president of Texas Eagle Oil Company in Fort Worth. However, in
1920, a slump in the oil business forced the company out of
business. It was then that Cook formed the Petroleum Producers
Association, which became one of the largest employers in Fort
Worth. This success was not to last; in 1923 Cook was accused
and indicted of mail fraud in relation to his oil business. He
was sent to federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas in 1925, where
he served five years. During his time in Leavenworth, Cook
served as physician in the hospital, as well as editor of the
prison newspaper,
New Era. Upon his parole, in 1930, Cook went
to work on his memoirs and led a relatively quiet life, until
his death from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1940. Cook received a
pardon from President Franklin D. Roosevelt for his mail fraud
conviction shortly before his death.
The Cook Arctic Club was formed shortly before Cook's death, by
his friend and Mount McKinley expedition mate, Ralph Shainwald
von Ahlefeldt, with the stated purpose of promoting the
recognition of Dr. Cook's discovery of the North Pole. This
first attempt at an organization devoted to Dr. Cook and his
discoveries proved short lived. In 1956, Dr. Cook's daughter,
Helene Cook Vetter and others formed the Dr. Frederick A. Cook
Society and in 1975, the group was again reorganized as
The Frederick A. Cook Society,
with the stated purpose "to gain official recognition for the
scientific and geographic accomplishments of Dr. Frederick A.
Cook."
