Ota Benga

Lore & Background

African-American newspapers and clergymen, including Robert Stuart MacArthur, protested Benga's treatment. New York City mayor George B. McClellan Jr. released Benga to the custody of James H. Gordon of the Howard Colored Orphan Asylum in Brooklyn. In 1910, Gordon arranged for Benga to live in Lynchburg, Virginia, where his teeth were capped and he was tutored in English. Benga worked at a tobacco factory. He tried to return to Africa, but the outbreak of World War I in 1914 stopped passenger ship travel. Benga developed depression and died by suicide in 1916.

Reader's Guide

Ota Benga's story is a stark example of the dehumanization inherent in early 20th-century human zoos and the racial ideologies that supported them. His exhibition at the Bronx Zoo, where he was caged with an orangutan, was widely condemned by African-American leaders and newspapers as an offense to his humanity and a promotion of social Darwinism. The controversy forced the zoo to end the display, but Benga's life afterward was marked by displacement and depression. He was unable to return to Africa due to World War I and died by suicide in 1916. Benga's case remains a powerful symbol of the exploitation of indigenous peoples for entertainment and the enduring impact of colonial violence. It also highlights the resistance of African-American communities who protested his treatment, asserting his humanity in the face of racist spectacle.

Did You Know?

• Ota Benga was purchased from slave traders for a pound of salt and a bolt of cloth.
• He was placed in a cage with an orangutan at the Bronx Zoo and given a bow and arrow, which he used to shoot at visitors who mocked him.
• African-American newspapers published editorials strongly opposing Benga's treatment at the zoo.
• Benga tried to return to Africa but was prevented by the outbreak of World War I in 1914.