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OTA BENGA
A Pygmy in America
In the early 20th century, the pygmy, Ota Benga, was brought from the
Congo to the United States and put on display in a cage among monkeys
in New York’s Bronx Zoo.
In 1904, the American explorer, Samuel Philips Verner, brought the pygmy, Ota Benga, from the Congo to take part as one of the many anthropological attractions at the St. Louis World Fair. At the close of the Fair, the pygmy remained with Verner, joining him on lecture tours around the United States. Shortly after, however, the explorer’s financial reserves were drained and with no way to support Ota Benga, he sent the pygmy to the New York Zoological Park.
The Zoo administrators shared a hierarchical view of races common at the time and saw Ota Benga as representative of a halfway stage in man’s evolution from the apes. They put the pygmy on display in the monkey cage, among orangutans and chimpanzees. The exhibition was an enormous success and attracted crowds to the zoo but as pressure from religious groups unpleased with the show grew, the Zoo decided to get rid of its controversial attraction.
Ota Benga was released and was shuttled between religious institutions, performing odd jobs for survival. Ten years later, in Virginia, he committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest.