Elisha Kent Kane (1820-1857)

Born in Philadelphia, Kane was a prominent explorer of the Arctic in the 1850s. His writings after his expeditions influenced scientific and popular opinion on the polar regions. He was first to chart a course that became the route that Robert Peary used to claim the North Pole in 1909. When he died, he was so revered that his body was sent on a two-week cortege across the country before being interred in its final resting place here.