June72010
fuckyeahvictorians: herzundseele: smh. I’m ready to quit this world… abagond: Ota Benga - the man who was put in the Bronx Zoo. triangleeyes: The Tragic Story of the Life of Ota Benga Born in Congo in 1883, Ota Benga - a Congolese “pygmy” of the Mbuti tribe - lived a short life that was both troubled and tragic. Benga lived a peaceful and fairly normal existence in the forests of Congo, near the Kasai River, until his people were horribly and brutally slaughtered by King Leopold’s armed forces known as the Force Republique. It was during this massacre that Benga lost his wife and children, and only survived as he was out hunting. Upon his return to his village, he was captured by the very people that had killed his family and tribespeople and subsequently sold into slavery. Whilst at a slave market, Ota Benga caught the eye of Samuel Phillips Verner - an American missionary and businessman that was in Africa scouting for pygmies to perform in an exhibition at the St Louis World Fair, on behalf of the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition and as part of an anthropological display that would feature “representatives of all the world’s peoples”. For “a pound of salt and a bolt of cloth”, Verner purchased Benga and the two developed a sturdy bond as Benga regarded Verner as his saviour from slavery. Ota Benga, along with a group of other men from local Congolese tribes, made their way to St. Louis, sans Verner who fell ill with malaria, where they were put on display at the World Fair. This is next paragraph is an excerpt from Ota Beng’a wikipedia page: “When Verner arrived a month later, he realized the pygmies were more prisoners than performers. Attempts to congregate peacefully in the forest on Sundays were thwarted by the crowds’ fascination with them, as were attempts to present a “serious” scientific exhibit. On a July 28, an attempt to play to the crowd’s preconceived notion that they were “savages” resulted in the First Illinois Regiment being called in to control the mob. Benga and the other Africans eventually performed in a military-style fashion, imitating that of the Indians at the Exhibition. The Indian chief Geronimo (himself on display as “The Human Tyger” – with special dispensation from the Department of War) came to admire Benga and gave him one of Geronimo’s famed arrowheads. For his efforts, Verner was awarded the gold medal in anthropology at the Exposition’s close.” After the Exposition, Benga returned to his home country where he accompanied Verner on his further expeditions in Africa. Benga got married for a second time to a woman from Batwa tribe but unfortunately, he once again lost his partner - this time, to a snake bite. As Verner prepared to go back the US, Benga decided to leave Congo once again with his trusted American friend. Sadly, this decision would lead to further degradation under the guise of “Anthropological Research”, as he was housed in a room at the American Museum of Natural History, where he was occasionally paraded around in a duck costume to entertain visitors.  According to the biography on Ota Benga written by Bradford and Blume, Ota Benga was enchanted with the museum at first. However, as time passed, he sunk into a state of depression as he became more and more homesick, which lead Benga to act in several ways. Once, he tried to make his escape from the museum by leaving as a large crowd was exiting. “What at first held his attention now made him want to flee. It was maddening to be inside – to be swallowed whole – so long. He had an image of himself, stuffed, behind glass, but somehow still alive, crouching over a fake campfire, feeding meat to a lifeless child. Museum silence became a source of torment, a kind of noise; he needed birdsong, breezes, trees.” Bradford and Blume (1992), pp. 165-166 After the failed attempt at housing Ota Benga at the National History Musuem, Verner soon found another home for him at the Bronx Zoo. Here, Benga was given free roam of the premises and soon found a friend in an oranguatan name Dohan, who lived in the Monkey House. Noticing this, the Zoo director, William Hornaday, took of advantage of this friendship and it wasn’t long before Benga was living in the Monkey House and became part of the exhibit with the oranguatan. Furthermore, Madison Grant - a eugenicist and scientific racist at that time - encouraged the exploitation of Benga in this exhibition at the Zoo, and used it to promote theories and beliefs such as Darwinism and racial supremacy. In fact, the New York Times had this to say about Benga’s display at the zoo: “We do not quite understand all the emotion which others are expressing in the matter … It is absurd to make moan over the imagined humiliation and degradation Benga is suffering. The pygmies … are very low in the human scale, and the suggestion that Benga should be in a school instead of a cage ignores the high probability that school would be a place … from which he could draw no advantage whatever. The idea that men are all much alike except as they have had or lacked opportunities for getting an education out of books is now far out of date.” It wasn’t long until this exploitative display was met with controversy. African-American groups protested the degridation of Ota Benga, and as a result, he was once again given free roam of the zoo. This time, however, the zoo promoted Benga as a sort of “interactive exhibit”, and as he walked around, he was frequently taunted and harassed, both physically and verbally, by visitors at the zoo. In frustration, Benga began to act out vehemently. Once again, The New York Times had something to say concerning Ota’s abuse at the zoo. Unlike the earlier statement, The NYT exchanged hostility for humanity in saying, “It is too bad that there is not some society like the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. We send our missionaries to Africa to Christianize the people, and then we bring one here to brutalize him.” With mounting public pressure, the zoo eventually caved to public pressure and Benga was removed and was later housed at the Howard Colored Orphan Asylum. Despite the move, the attention that he loathed at the zoo haunted him once again: this time, through the press. Ota Benga was then relocated to Lynchburg, Virgina, where he was tutored by poet Anne Spencer and soon began a formal education. His teeth, which were previously shaven in a sharp, triangular formation during the days of his youth, were capped and he was dressed in Western fashions of the time. With the improvement of his English skills, Benga left school and began working at a tobacco factory, and also began planning his trip back to Congo. Sadly, with the outbreak of World War I, his hopes were soon dashed. Benga became overwhelmed with depression and on March 20, 1916, at the young age of 32, “he built a ceremonnial fire, chipped off the caps of his teeth and shot himself in the heart with a stolen pistol.” Excerpts from wikipedia regarding Ota Benga’s burial and legacy: “He was buried in an unmarked grave, records show, in the black section of the Old City Cemetery, near his benefactor, Gregory Hayes. At some point, however, both 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 fell into disrepair. Phillips Verner Bradford, the grandson of Samuel Phillips Verner, authored a 1992 book on Ota Benga entitled Ota Benga: The Pygmy in the Zoo. During his research for the book, he visited the American Museum of Natural History in New York, which holds a life mask and body cast of Ota Benga. To this day, the display is still labeled “Pygmy”, rather than indicating Benga’s name, despite objections that began almost a century ago from Verner himself.” Well, if this isn’t the saddest history you’ve read today.

fuckyeahvictorians:

herzundseele:

smh. I’m ready to quit this world…

abagond:

Ota Benga - the man who was put in the Bronx Zoo.

triangleeyes:

The Tragic Story of the Life of Ota Benga

Born in Congo in 1883, Ota Benga - a Congolese “pygmy” of the Mbuti tribe - lived a short life that was both troubled and tragic. Benga lived a peaceful and fairly normal existence in the forests of Congo, near the Kasai River, until his people were horribly and brutally slaughtered by King Leopold’s armed forces known as the Force Republique. It was during this massacre that Benga lost his wife and children, and only survived as he was out hunting. Upon his return to his village, he was captured by the very people that had killed his family and tribespeople and subsequently sold into slavery.

Whilst at a slave market, Ota Benga caught the eye of Samuel Phillips Verner - an American missionary and businessman that was in Africa scouting for pygmies to perform in an exhibition at the St Louis World Fair, on behalf of the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition and as part of an anthropological display that would feature “representatives of all the world’s peoples”.

For “a pound of salt and a bolt of cloth”, Verner purchased Benga and the two developed a sturdy bond as Benga regarded Verner as his saviour from slavery. Ota Benga, along with a group of other men from local Congolese tribes, made their way to St. Louis, sans Verner who fell ill with malaria, where they were put on display at the World Fair.

This is next paragraph is an excerpt from Ota Beng’a wikipedia page:

“When Verner arrived a month later, he realized the pygmies were more prisoners than performers. Attempts to congregate peacefully in the forest on Sundays were thwarted by the crowds’ fascination with them, as were attempts to present a “serious” scientific exhibit. On a July 28, an attempt to play to the crowd’s preconceived notion that they were “savages” resulted in the First Illinois Regiment being called in to control the mob. Benga and the other Africans eventually performed in a military-style fashion, imitating that of the Indians at the Exhibition. The Indian chief Geronimo (himself on display as “The Human Tyger” – with special dispensation from the Department of War) came to admire Benga and gave him one of Geronimo’s famed arrowheads. For his efforts, Verner was awarded the gold medal in anthropology at the Exposition’s close.”

After the Exposition, Benga returned to his home country where he accompanied Verner on his further expeditions in Africa. Benga got married for a second time to a woman from Batwa tribe but unfortunately, he once again lost his partner - this time, to a snake bite. As Verner prepared to go back the US, Benga decided to leave Congo once again with his trusted American friend. Sadly, this decision would lead to further degradation under the guise of “Anthropological Research”, as he was housed in a room at the American Museum of Natural History, where he was occasionally paraded around in a duck costume to entertain visitors. 

According to the biography on Ota Benga written by Bradford and Blume, Ota Benga was enchanted with the museum at first. However, as time passed, he sunk into a state of depression as he became more and more homesick, which lead Benga to act in several ways. Once, he tried to make his escape from the museum by leaving as a large crowd was exiting.

“What at first held his attention now made him want to flee. It was maddening to be inside – to be swallowed whole – so long. He had an image of himself, stuffed, behind glass, but somehow still alive, crouching over a fake campfire, feeding meat to a lifeless child. Museum silence became a source of torment, a kind of noise; he needed birdsong, breezes, trees.” Bradford and Blume (1992), pp. 165-166

After the failed attempt at housing Ota Benga at the National History Musuem, Verner soon found another home for him at the Bronx Zoo. Here, Benga was given free roam of the premises and soon found a friend in an oranguatan name Dohan, who lived in the Monkey House. Noticing this, the Zoo director, William Hornaday, took of advantage of this friendship and it wasn’t long before Benga was living in the Monkey House and became part of the exhibit with the oranguatan. Furthermore, Madison Grant - a eugenicist and scientific racist at that time - encouraged the exploitation of Benga in this exhibition at the Zoo, and used it to promote theories and beliefs such as Darwinism and racial supremacy. In fact, the New York Times had this to say about Benga’s display at the zoo:

“We do not quite understand all the emotion which others are expressing in the matter … It is absurd to make moan over the imagined humiliation and degradation Benga is suffering. The pygmies … are very low in the human scale, and the suggestion that Benga should be in a school instead of a cage ignores the high probability that school would be a place … from which he could draw no advantage whatever. The idea that men are all much alike except as they have had or lacked opportunities for getting an education out of books is now far out of date.”

It wasn’t long until this exploitative display was met with controversy. African-American groups protested the degridation of Ota Benga, and as a result, he was once again given free roam of the zoo. This time, however, the zoo promoted Benga as a sort of “interactive exhibit”, and as he walked around, he was frequently taunted and harassed, both physically and verbally, by visitors at the zoo. In frustration, Benga began to act out vehemently. Once again, The New York Times had something to say concerning Ota’s abuse at the zoo. Unlike the earlier statement, The NYT exchanged hostility for humanity in saying,

“It is too bad that there is not some society like the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. We send our missionaries to Africa to Christianize the people, and then we bring one here to brutalize him.”

With mounting public pressure, the zoo eventually caved to public pressure and Benga was removed and was later housed at the Howard Colored Orphan Asylum. Despite the move, the attention that he loathed at the zoo haunted him once again: this time, through the press. Ota Benga was then relocated to Lynchburg, Virgina, where he was tutored by poet Anne Spencer and soon began a formal education. His teeth, which were previously shaven in a sharp, triangular formation during the days of his youth, were capped and he was dressed in Western fashions of the time. With the improvement of his English skills, Benga left school and began working at a tobacco factory, and also began planning his trip back to Congo. Sadly, with the outbreak of World War I, his hopes were soon dashed. Benga became overwhelmed with depression and on March 20, 1916, at the young age of 32, “he built a ceremonnial fire, chipped off the caps of his teeth and shot himself in the heart with a stolen pistol.”

Excerpts from wikipedia regarding Ota Benga’s burial and legacy:

“He was buried in an unmarked grave, records show, in the black section of the Old City Cemetery, near his benefactor, Gregory Hayes. At some point, however, both 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 fell into disrepair.

Phillips Verner Bradford, the grandson of Samuel Phillips Verner, authored a 1992 book on Ota Benga entitled Ota Benga: The Pygmy in the Zoo. During his research for the book, he visited the American Museum of Natural History in New York, which holds a life mask and body cast of Ota Benga. To this day, the display is still labeled “Pygmy”, rather than indicating Benga’s name, despite objections that began almost a century ago from Verner himself.”

Well, if this isn’t the saddest history you’ve read today.

history anthropology anthropology gone wrong 

June62010

The Gruesome Origins of 5 Popular Fairy Tales

fairphantom:

tulletulle:lipstick-feminists:castleoflions:yerawizardharry:

  1. Little Red Riding Hood



    Most modern versions of fairy tales come from two sources: The Grimm Brothers from Germany, and Frenchman Charles Perrault, the collector of the “Mother Goose” tales. The big change they made to this one was the ending. That woodsman showing up seemed a little like a third act re-write of a movie due to bad test screenings, didn’t it? Where the hell did the woodsman come from?

    Well, the woodsman was a later addition to the tale. In the early versions of the story, Red and her Grandmother are dead. The. Goddamn. End. Also, in most versions the woodsman cuts the pair out of the wolf’s belly, where they’re mostly none the worse for wear despite being eaten, which implies to us the wolf in that story world eats like some sort of python, by unhinging its jaw and swallowing prey whole. Suspension of disbelief only goes so far.

    Much earlier versions also liked to spice up the sexuality angle of the story, by having Red outwit the wolf by performing a striptease for him while he’s lying in bed dressed as her Grandmother, and then running away while he’s “distracted” (Note to any young girls out there: if you are ever abducted and menaced by someone, DO NOT DO THIS).

    Wait, it gets worse. This is the most horrifying bit that got filtered out before the tale reached both the Grimm’s and Perrault (and in fact, only made it into a few written texts). In this version, the Wolf dissects Grandmother, then invites Red in for a meal of her flesh, presumably with a side of fava beans and a nice Chianti. Then he eats her, too.

  2. Snow White



    In the Disney film the wicked step-mother winds up dead (she falls off a cliff). So that’s pretty hardcore we guess. It’s got nothing on the Grimm version, though, where the step-mother is tortured by being forced to wear red-hot iron shoes, and made to dance until she falls down dead (you can picture the puppet thing from Saw spelling this out for her over a closed-circuit monitor).

    The issue of Snow’s actual age is a point of contention as well. The Grimm’s explicitly refer to her as being seven years old when the story starts, and while there’s no firm indication of how much time has passed, it’s no more than a couple of years. So unless that’s an eight-year-old Prince Charming who comes along and rescues Snow, we’re backing away from this one before we become the subject of an NBC reality show.

    The biggest change, and the bloodiest, is step-mom’s … unusual eating habits. Namely, when she asks her man to bring back the heart of Snow White, she isn’t just after proof the girl is dead. She wants to eat it. Depending on the version of the story, the Queen asks for Snow’s liver, lungs, intestines and pretty much every other major internal organ, up to and including one gruesome version where she asks for a bottle of Snow’s blood stoppered with her toe.

  3. Rumpelstiltskin



    In the Grimm brothers’ version, taken from the oral tradition, the little man is so pissed off he stamps the floor in his little hissy fit, and gets stuck. And then, like some insane version of a Will Ferrell skit, he pulls so hard to free himself that he tears himself in half. Now, if our names were Rumpelstiltskin and some dizzy miller’s daughter had just told the whole damn room, we’d be pissed too, but we don’t think we’d get dismemberment-angry.

    Not to mention, in the really early versions of the tale, Rumpelstiltskin launches himself at the girl in a rage and gets stuck … um … in her lady parts. Seriously. The palace guards all have to come and pull him out, which must have made for some awkward looks afterwards.

    Also, in a depressingly large number of versions, the child is killed anyway, either by Rumpelstiltskin himself, or the guards, or someone. They weren’t big on happy endings in the Dark Ages. Plague will do that.

  4. Sleeping Beauty



    The first major departure in this from the version we know today is when the Princess pricks her finger on her 15 birthday. In earlier versions the Princess instead gets a piece of flax caught under her fingernail which pricks her and puts her to sleep. This might seem like a small difference but it becomes important when you consider the other major, and unsettling, change to the story.

    Previous versions of the tale have the Prince who finds Sleeping Beauty think she’s so damn beautiful he just goes ahead and has his way with her right then and there. Yes, while she’s still comatose.

    If that’s not disturbing enough, the rohypnol-style coupling leads to a pregnancy, and the Princess gives birth to twins, all while asleep. One of the babies, seeking momma’s milk, sucks on her finger and dislodges the flax, waking her, at which point we imagine she had a few questions.

  5. Cinderella



    This one goes way, way back, having been told across cultures for thousands of years before being made into numerous Hollywood movies. The identity of the Fairy Godmother changes often, and in fact she only showed up in Perrault’s version, along with the pumpkin coach and the mice attendants which were all used in the Disney version. There’s even a Chinese version of the story from around 850 AD, where “Yeh-Hsien” is given gold, pearls, dresses and food by a giant talking fish.

    A famous difference in many versions of the story is the “glass slipper.” Authorities on fairy tales (who you tend not to see at parties) disagree about whether Perrault’s slipper was made of glass or fur, as the words in French (verre and vair respectively) are pronounced almost the same. It’s kind of important, because if the Prince was wandering the land looking for a lady with the perfect “fur slipper” … well, it doesn’t take Freud to figure that one out, and suddenly the Prince doesn’t look so noble.

    One thing Perrault left out that the Grimm’s delighted in putting back in was the violence. The sisters, desperate to fit into the slipper, mutilate their own feet, cutting off the toes and heels all described in exquisite Germanic detail. When the Prince eventually realizes Cinderella is the one for him, birds peck out the sisters’ and mother’s eyes for their wickedness.

I did storytelling in speech and debate, so everything to do with fairy tales thrills me.  Rumpelstiltskin was my first piece, actually.

I knew all of these, but I’ll go ahead and pass them on.  Everyone could do with more fairy tales in their lives.

history fairy tales 

12AM
yeoldenews: Here lies Fred. Fred is dead. (source: The Tatler, February 20, 1832. ) Here’s some entertainment for today. 

yeoldenews:

Here lies Fred. Fred is dead.

(source: The Tatler, February 20, 1832. )

Here’s some entertainment for today. 

history England British history 

May312010
killmetheking: nickelcobalt:Memorial Day. at ajchen.com I hope everyone has had a safe, happy and most of all thoughtful Memorial Day.  Thank you to those who serve and who serve us, whether we agree on the missions they are sent on or not, our safety is still dependent on their care.

killmetheking:

nickelcobalt:Memorial Day. at ajchen.com

I hope everyone has had a safe, happy and most of all thoughtful Memorial Day.  Thank you to those who serve and who serve us, whether we agree on the missions they are sent on or not, our safety is still dependent on their care.

Memorial Day photo Iwo Jima history 

May302010
hottiesfromhistory: Hotty from History #24 - Sir Walter Raleigh During my revision for my impending A-Level History exam, I have come to the conclusion that the Tudors was not the best era for hotties. I struggled whilst rifling through my numerous books to find a hotty, yet everyone looks pretty dowdy in their portraits; and i was tempted to post Elizabeth I, yet it seemed like she had a slight case of vagina dentata. Yes! Walter Raleigh! The reverse to everything I said before. He certainly does not look dowdy, and it seems very, very, very unlikely that he has vagina dentata. Instead he was an accomplished sailor (mmm sailors), poet and explorer, who was also probably one of the few men who ever managed to paddle with Elizabeth I. If you know what I mean. Tom Lol.  I don’t think he and Elizabeth I were “paddling”, but he was a favorite of hers.  But, to each his own conclusions.

hottiesfromhistory:

Hotty from History #24 - Sir Walter Raleigh

During my revision for my impending A-Level History exam, I have come to the conclusion that the Tudors was not the best era for hotties. I struggled whilst rifling through my numerous books to find a hotty, yet everyone looks pretty dowdy in their portraits; and i was tempted to post Elizabeth I, yet it seemed like she had a slight case of vagina dentata.

Yes! Walter Raleigh! The reverse to everything I said before. He certainly does not look dowdy, and it seems very, very, very unlikely that he has vagina dentata. Instead he was an accomplished sailor (mmm sailors), poet and explorer, who was also probably one of the few men who ever managed to paddle with Elizabeth I. If you know what I mean.

Tom

Lol.  I don’t think he and Elizabeth I were “paddling”, but he was a favorite of hers.  But, to each his own conclusions.

Sir Walter Raleigh Elizabeth I history portraits 

7PM
turnofthecentury: Henry Peach Robinson~The Lady of Shalott,1861   via lindashires The Lady of Shalott by Henry Peach Robinson is unique, for it is the only known photograph that illustrates this subject so popular in painting and book illustration. Robinson, the leading art photographer of the 1860s, was the first to illustrate the work of Tennyson, and as he stated, he believed that he followed Pre-Raphaelite principles in doing so. “I made a barge, crimped the model’s hair, PR fashion, laid her on the boat in the river among the water lilies, and gave her a background of weeping willows, taken in the rain so that they might look dreary’” [more]

turnofthecentury:

Henry Peach Robinson~The Lady of Shalott,1861 

 via lindashires

The Lady of Shalott by Henry Peach Robinson is unique, for it is the only known photograph that illustrates this subject so popular in painting and book illustration. Robinson, the leading art photographer of the 1860s, was the first to illustrate the work of Tennyson, and as he stated, he believed that he followed Pre-Raphaelite principles in doing so. “I made a barge, crimped the model’s hair, PR fashion, laid her on the boat in the river among the water lilies, and gave her a background of weeping willows, taken in the rain so that they might look dreary’” [more]

photography history mythology art Lady of Shalott 

1AM
“A little simplification would be the first step toward rational living, I think.” Eleanor Roosevelt | submitted by:aliciia-mariee (via quote-book)

Eleanor Roosevelt quotes simplicity living history first lady 

12AM
“For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die.” Ted Kennedy (via thoughtsdetained) (via quote-book)

Ted Kennedy American history modern history history quotes 

May292010
turnofthecentury: Suffrage parade, New York City, May 6, 1912

turnofthecentury:

Suffrage parade, New York City, May 6, 1912

Suffragette Parade New York City American History History America women feminism 

9PM

bythegods:

Lancelot

One of the mightiest and noblest of Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table was Lancelot. He was known as Lancelot of the Lake because the Lady of the Lake (who provided Arthur with Excalibur) plunged him into a magic pool when he was a child. This story, a Christian addition, is essentially a magic baptism in a blessed pool that makes you an unstoppable ass-kicking machine. And indeed, in the realm of Arthurian myth, nobody was gonna beat Lancelot in a fight. This guy was a powerhouse. A sexy powerhouse. 

Lancelot was the hot one. The hottest one. All the women wanted him, whether they admitted it or not, but Lancelot only had eyes for Arthur’s queen, Guinevere. He was the Queen’s Champion, and all of his great adventures and exploits were informed by his secret lover her. For a time Guinevere would not allow Lancelot to come to her, but eventually she gave in, and they became lovers. Secret lovers. Their secret was eventually exposed by Sir Mordred, and this led to the splitting of the Round Table Knights, and Arthur made war on Lancelot in Brittany. Mordred’s motives were then revealed, when he used Arthur and Lancelot’s absence from Britain to seize power and claim Guinevere as his own, leading to the last battle of Arthur and the end of his reign. Lancelot ended his life as a hermit, willingly sundered from Guinevere, his brother knights, and his former glory.

Together, Lancelot and Arthur were the knights most exemplifying strength through chivalry and honour. However, the Arthurian stories in the Christian vein were all about demonstrating the merits of Chivalry vs. Purity; in the end, the knights that most embodied the Christian “purity” were seen as superior to the exclusively chivalrous, and found success and lasting renown, keeping their honour, while the others all fell from greatness. Characters like Galahad and Percival, who were closely involved in the Grail quests were, in the end, placed above men like Lancelot and Arthur, who were seen as flawed for their descent into lust and vengeance that contributed to the sundering of Arthur’s realm. 

Arthur, Lancelot England Medeival Myth Legend History Guenevere 

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