Explorer Peter Freuchen
Above the fireplace is a portrait of member Peter Freuchen, a Danish explorer who became stranded in a blizzard on Baffin Island in 1923 and suffered severe frostbite and gangrene on his left foot. To make it back to civilization alive, Freuchen was forced to knock off the toes of his foot with a hammer. Doctors later amputated Freuchen's left leg, but the intrepid explorer continued to explore Greenland and the Arctic.
Explorers Club Records
The Explorers Club keeps detailed records of its members' journeys and discoveries, and the headquarters building houses more than 10,000 books on topics related to exploration.
Trophy Room
These taxidermied specimens are just a few of the many heads, tusks and bodies dotting the Explorers Club "Trophy Room," which houses many of the club's prized artifacts.
A few famous members
Photos of Explorers Club members include Robert Peary, co-discoverer of the North Pole and the Club’s third president; Roald Amundsen, co-discover of the South Pole; Sir Ernest Shackleton, who famously rescued his stranded crew in Antarctica; President Theodore Roosevelt, who led two expeditions (to East Africa in 1908 and to the interior of Brazil in 1913, respectively); Matthew Henson, co-discoverer of the North Pole and the Club's first African-American member; Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, the first to summit the world’s highest mountain, Mt. Everest; Astronauts John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins and Sally Ride; legendary pilot Chuck Yeager; oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle; and primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall.
Whale Penis
One of the Explorers Club's rarest artifacts is a preserved sperm whale penis, proudly displayed in the Trophy Room at its headquarters.
