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Ota Benga

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Ota Benga
Benga at the St. Louis World's Fair, 1904
Bornc. 1883
Congo
Died (aged 32)
Lynchburg, Virginia, U.S.
Cause of deathSuicide by gunshot to the head
Resting placeWhite Rock Cemetery
37°23′56.23″N 79°7′58.41″W / 37.3989528°N 79.1328917°W / 37.3989528; -79.1328917
Height4 ft 11 in (150 cm)
Spousea wife (murdered)
Children2 (murdered)

Ota Benga (c. 1883[1] – March 20, 1916) was a Congolese man, a Mbuti pygmy known for being featured in an anthropology exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri in 1904, and in a human zoo exhibit in 1906 at the Bronx Zoo. Kidnapped by Europeans.

Displays of non-white humans as examples of "earlier stages" of human evolution were common in the early 20th century, when racial theories were frequently intertwined with concepts from evolutionary biology. African-American newspapers around the nation published editorials strongly opposing Benga's treatment. Dr. R. S. MacArthur, the spokesperson for a delegation of black churches, petitioned New York City Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr. for his release from the Bronx Zoo.

The mayor released Benga to the custody of Reverend James M. Gordon, who supervised the Howard Colored Orphan Asylum in Brooklyn and made him a ward. That same year Gordon arranged for Benga to be cared for in Virginia, where he paid for him to acquire American clothes and to have his teeth capped, so the young man could be more readily accepted in local society. Benga was tutored in English and began to work. Several years later, the outbreak of World War I stopped ship passenger travel and prevented his returning to Africa. This, as well as the poor treatment he was subjected to for most of his life, caused Benga to fall into a depression. He committed suicide in 1916 at the age of 32.[2]

Life

Early life

Europeans kidnapped This child.


Later life

Gordon placed Benga in the Howard Colored Orphan Asylum, a church-sponsored orphanage which he supervised. As the unwelcome press attention continued, in January 1910, Gordon arranged for Benga's relocation to Lynchburg, Virginia, where he lived with the McCray family.[3] So that Benga could more easily be part of local society, Gordon arranged for the African's teeth to be capped and bought him American-style clothes. Tutored by Lynchburg poet Anne Spencer,[4] Benga could improve his English, and he began to attend elementary school at the Baptist Seminary in Lynchburg.[5]

Once he felt his English had improved sufficiently, Benga discontinued his formal education. He began working at a Lynchburg tobacco factory. He proved a valuable employee because he could climb up the poles to get the tobacco leaves without having to use a ladder. His fellow workers called him "Bingo". He often told his life story in exchange for sandwiches and root beer. He began to plan a return to Africa.[6]

In 1914 when World War I broke out, a return to the Congo became impossible as passenger ship traffic ended. Benga became depressed as his hopes for a return to his homeland faded.[6] On March 20, 1916, at the age of 32, he built a ceremonial fire, chipped off the caps on his teeth, and shot himself in the heart with a stolen pistol.[7]

He was buried in an unmarked grave in the black section of the Old City Cemetery, near his benefactor, Gregory Hayes. At some point, the remains of both men went missing. Local oral history indicates that Hayes and Ota Benga were eventually moved from the Old Cemetery to White Rock Cemetery, a burial ground that later fell into disrepair.[8]

Legacy

Phillips Verner Bradford, the grandson of Samuel Phillips Verner, wrote a book on the Mbuti man, entitled Ota Benga: The Pygmy in the Zoo (1992). During his research for the book, Bradford visited the American Museum of Natural History, which holds a life mask and body cast of Ota Benga. The display is still labeled "Pygmy", rather than indicating Benga's name, despite objections beginning a century ago from Verner and repeated by others.[9] Publication of Bradford's book in 1992 inspired widespread interest in Ota Benga's story and stimulated creation of many other works, both fictional and non-fiction, such as:

  • 1994 – John Strand's play, Ota Benga, was produced by the Signature Theater in Arlington, Virginia.[10]
  • 1997 – The play, Ota Benga, Elegy for the Elephant, by Dr. Ben B. Halm, was staged at Fairfield University in Connecticut.[11]
  • 2002 – The Mbuti man was the subject of the short documentary, Ota Benga: A Pygmy in America, directed by Brazilian Alfeu França. He incorporated original movies recorded by Verner in the early 20th century.[12]
  • 2005 – A fictionalized account of his life portrayed in the film Man to Man, starring Joseph Fiennes, Kristin Scott Thomas.
  • 2006 – The Brooklyn-based band Piñataland released a song titled "Ota Benga's Name" on their album Songs from the Forgotten Future Volume 1, which tells the story of Ota Benga.[13]
  • 2006 – The fantasy film The Fall features a highly fictionalized character based on Ota Benga.
  • 2007 – McCray's early poems about Benga were adapted as a performance piece; the work debuted at the Columbia Museum of Art in 2007, with McCray as narrator and original music by Kevin Simmonds.
  • 2008 – Benga inspired the character of Ngunda Oti in the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.[14]
  • 2010 – The story of Ota Benga was the inspiration for a concept album by the St. Louis musical ensemble May Day Orchestra [15]
  • 2011 – Italian band Mamuthones recorded the song "Ota Benga" in their album Mamuthones.[citation needed]
  • 2012 – Ota Benga Under My Mother's Roof, a poetry collection, was published by Carrie Allen McCray, whose family had taken care of Benga
  • 2012 – Ota Benga was mentioned in the song, "Behind My Painted Smile", by English rapper Akala
  • 2012 – Ota Benga the Documentary Film appeared (http://www.otabengathedocumentaryfilm.com/).
  • 2015 – Journalist Pamela Newkirk published the biography Spectacle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga[16]
  • 2016 – Radio Diaries, a Peabody Award-winning radio show, tells the story of Ota Benga in "The Man in the Zoo" on the Radio Diaries podcast. [17]

Similar case

Like Ota Benga, Ishi (a Native American) was displayed in the human zoo.

Similarities have been observed between the treatment of Ota Benga and Ishi. The latter was the sole remaining member of the Yahi Native American tribe, and he was displayed in California around the same period. Ishi died on March 25, 1916, five days after Ota.[18][19]

See also

References

  1. ^ Bradford and Blume (1992), p. 54.
  2. ^ Evanzz, Karl (1999). The Messenger: The rise and fall of Elijah Muhammad. New York: Pantheon Books. ISBN 9780679442608.
  3. ^ Bradford and Blume (1992), pp. 191–204.
  4. ^ Bradford and Blume (1992), pp. 212–213.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Spiro 48 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b Spiro (2008), p. 49.
  7. ^ "Ota Benga", Encyclopedia Virginia
  8. ^ Bradford and Blume (1992), p. 231.
  9. ^ Laurent, Darrel (May 29, 2005). "Demeaned in Life, Forgotten in Death". The Lynchburg News & Advance. Retrieved April 3, 2006.
  10. ^ Ota Benga. Broadway Plays.
  11. ^ "Memorial details — Ben Halm". Fairfield University. Archived from the original on November 2, 2007. Retrieved January 6, 2009. [dead link]
  12. ^ Alfeu França (2002). Ota Benga:A Pygmy in America (film).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference nyt2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Hornaday, Ann (January 3, 2009). "Basest Instinct: Case of the Zoo Pygmy Exhibited a Familiar Face of Human Nature". Washington Post. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
  15. ^ May Day. Ota Benga. Allmusic.com.
  16. ^ Newkirk, Pamela (June 2, 2015). Spectacle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga. Amistad. ISBN 9780062201003.
  17. ^ Radio Diaries, The Man in the Zoo
  18. ^ Weaver (2003), p. 41.
  19. ^ Ishi in Three Centuries. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 2003. p. 41. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)

Bibliography

  • Adams, Rachel (2001). Sideshow U.S.A: Freaks and the American Cultural Imagination. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-00539-9.
  • Bradford, Phillips Verner; Blume, Harvey (1992). Ota Benga: The Pygmy in the Zoo. New York: St. Martins Press. ISBN 0-312-08276-2.
  • McCray, Carrie Allen (2012). Kevin Simmonds (ed.). Ota Benga under My Mother's Roof. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 978-1-61117-085-6.
  • Newkirk, Pamela (2015). Spectacle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga. New York: Amistad. ISBN 978-0-06-220100-3.
  • Parezo, Nancy J.; Fowler, Don D. (2007). Anthropology Goes to the Fair: The 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-3759-6.
  • Smith, Ken (1998). Raw Deal: Horrible and Ironic Stories of Forgotten Americans. New York: Blast Books. ISBN 0-922233-20-9.
  • Spiro, Jonathan Peter (2008). Defending the Master Race: Conservation, Eugenics, and the Legacy of Madison Grant. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont Press. pp. 43–51. ISBN 978-1-58465-715-6.
  • Weaver, Jace (2003). "When the Demons Came: (Retro)Spectacle among the Savages". In Karl Kroeber; Clifton B. Kroeber (ed.). Ishi in Three Centuries. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 35–47. ISBN 0-8032-2757-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)

http://www.otabengathedocumentaryfilm.com/

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