The Peary Polar Expedition Medal was a commemorative medal awarded to six of the participants of the 1908–1909 Expedition to the North Pole , led by Robert Peary . Authorized by Congress in 1944, the silver medals were presented by the Secretary of the Navy .
6-677: The medal was established by Private Law 78-166 on January 28, 1944. The law was entitled, "An act to provide for the presentation of silver medals to certain members of the Peary Polar Expedition of 1908-1909." The law authorized the Secretary of the Navy to have made at the United States Mint , silver medals with which to reward six individuals for their service to the expedition. The medals were to be presented in
12-709: The Statutes at Large (Stat.), and codification results in the United States Code (U.S.C.). Public and private laws are prepared and published by the Office of the Federal Register (OFR) of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). At the end of a Congressional session, slip laws are compiled into the Statutes at Large , which are called "session laws", published by
18-662: The following month. Borup's sister accepted his medal in June 1945, and Marvin's family received his medal in 1949. Slip law In the United States , a slip law is an individual Act of Congress which is either a public law (Pub.L.) or a private law (Pvt.L.). Slip laws are published as softcover unbound pamphlets , each with its own individual pagination . They are part of a three-part model for publication of federal statutes consisting of slip laws, session laws , and codification . Session laws are compiled into
24-550: The inscription is a space to engrave the recipient's name resting on the depiction of snowshoes at the bottom. The medal is suspended from a white ribbon with an ice-blue 1 ⁄ 4 -inch (0.64 cm) stripe toward each edge. The six recipients of the medal, specified in the authorizing act of Congress, were: Although eligible, Peary himself was not awarded the medal, for unknown reasons. MacMillan and Bartlett received their medals in May 1945; Goodsell and Henson received theirs
30-439: The name of Congress. Absent from the list of recipients was Peary himself. The medal is 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 inches (3.8 cm) in diameter. The obverse depicts a figure of Peary in a fur hooded parka, holding the tip of a walking pole in his right hand. Below the figure of Peary are the words in three lines: PEARY POLAR EXPEDITION 1908-09 . Around the outside are the points of a compass rose with north being indicated at
36-416: The top by a fleur-de-lis . The reverse bears the eight line inscription: PRESENTED IN THE NAME OF CONGRESS IN RECOGNITION OF HIS EFFORTS AND SERVICES AS A MEMBER OF THE PEARY POLAR EXPEDITION OF 1908-09 IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE AND FOR THE CAUSE OF POLAR EXPLORATION BY AIDING IN THE DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH POLE BY ADMIRAL PEARY . Above the inscription is an American flag with a sled dog on either side. Below
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