Search results
Feb 21, 2014 · I curled up with the book and began to read the Zoo’s history, with great fondness, but one thing stood out, and in celebrating Black history, it is a must share. Ota Benga, an African pygmy from the Congo, was bought to the Zoo in 1906. He was about 23 years old, stood 4’11, weighed just a little over 100 lbs and had sharp pointed teeth.
Jan 4, 2018 · The man, a pygmy named Ota Benga, was soon ‘presented by Verner to the Bronx Zoo director, William Hornaday. The pygmy was born in 1881 in Africa. When put in the zoo, he was 150 centimetres (4 feet 11 inches) tall, about 23 years old, and weighed a mere 47 kilos (103 pounds).
Jan 6, 2018 · Ota Benga. Purchased at a slave market in Africa by minister-turned-explorer Samuel Verner, Ota Benga was a member of the Mbuti people, an indigenous group of pygmies who lived in the African Congo. Benga was first brought to America by Verner to be put on display with other indigenous peoples at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904.
Mar 20, 2018 · Benga was allowed free movement through the zoo grounds, but his hammock was slung in the primate exhibit. He was displayed as part of the New York Anthropological Society’s exhibit on human evolution. A sign outside the cage read: The African Pygmy, Ota Benga Age, 23 years. Height, 4 feet 11 inches. Weight 103 pound. Brought from the Kasai ...
Sep 28, 2012 · Ota Benga, a Congolese pygmy, posed at the Bronx Zoo in 1906. Ota Benga was brought from the Belgian Congo in 1904 by noted African explorer Samuel Verner along with other pygmies and displayed in an exhibit in the 1904 St. Louis world's Fair. Ota Benga (or "Bi", which means "friend" in his language) was born in 1881, had a height of 4 ft. 11in ...
Dec 10, 2015 · In 1906, Ota Benga, a four-foot-eleven-inch “African pygmy,” began his nearly three-week long exhibition at the Bronx Zoo in New York City. The exhibit, which was viewed by thousands of people per day, encouraged viewers to see Benga in primitive and animalistic terms; zoo officials clothed him in animal skins and kept him in a cage.
The man who was put on display in a zoo was brought from the Belgian Congo in 1904 by noted African explorer Samuel Verner. The man, a pygmy named Ota Benga (or ‘Bi’, which meant ‘friend’ in his language), was soon ‘presented by Verner to the Bronx Zoo director, William Hornaday’. 1
