Ota Benga was a Congolese individual who was taken from his home and brought to the United States in 1904 by Samuel Phillips Verner, an American missionary and explorer who was commissioned to survey the former Congo Free State and exhibit Africans for display. In 1904, Ota Benga was placed on display at the St. Louis World’s Fair in Missouri, but he would later be moved to the Bronx Zoo in New York, where he was displayed in the Zoo’s Monkey House along with an orangutan. The treatment of Ota Benga was followed by outrage from African American newspapers and ministers, and their efforts manifested into a campaign demanding his release.
Following Ota Benga’s Release, he would live in Lynchburg, Virginia, with Gregory Willis Hayes, former President of Virginia Theological Seminary, (now known as Virginia University of Lynchburg) and later Hayes’ widow, Mary Rice Hayes Allen. Ota Benga’s time in Lynchburg was characterized by his sense of disconnection; although he was accepted within the Black community, he remained an outsider, struggling to find a true sense of belonging, and longing for his home in Congo. Ota Benga would act on these feelings and attempt to return home, but was unable, due to outbreak of World War I, which led to him committing suicide in 1916.
In all its tragedy, the story of Ota Benga remains a powerful reminder of the effects of racial and cultural exploitation, and the Committee seeks restorative justice for the wrongs which he endured. The legacy left behind by Ota Benga calls for continued reflection on the ways history has marginalized and dehumanized individuals, urging society to confront its past and work toward healing and reconciliation.
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