Caged in a Zoo: Ota Benga

"...this was a human being not at all unlike those that observed him, a man, with a name. Ota Benga."

Dec 28, 2025 · 1h 30m

In September, 1906, New York's Bronx Zoo briefly helf a Congolese man in a cage, alongside apes and chimpanzees. This is the story of Ota Benga, a man who was brought to America from a violent land, and found himself a spectacle to the masses. 0:00:00 - Introduction 0:02:09 - I: Origins & Congo "Free State" 0:06:35 - II: Sam & Otto 0:13:51 - III: The Louisiana Purchase Exposition 0:34:11 - IV: Return to the Congo 0:40:14 - V: Pygmy in New York City 0:48:04 - VI: "Is it a man?" 1:01:22 - VII: The Orphan 1:11:56 - VIII: Life in Lynchburg 1:19:12 - IX: Memories