William Henry Sheppard - Legacy

Legacy

Sheppard's efforts contributed to the contemporary debate on European colonialism and imperialism in the region, particularly amongst the African American community. However, historians have noted that he has traditionally received little recognition for his contributions.

Over the course of his journeys, Sheppard amassed a sizable collection of Kuba art, much of which he donated to his alma mater. He was possibly the first African American collector of African art. This art collection was notable because it "acquired the art objects in Africa, from Africans at all levels in their society...in the context of their daily existence" and, as a whole, Kuba art is considered "one of the most highly developed of African visual art forms..." The collection as a whole is quite large; from the time of his arrival to Congo Free State in 1890 until his final departure 20 years later in 1910, Sheppard was collecting art and artifacts from the cultures around him.

Sheppard's collection was also useful to ethnologists of the time, because the Kuba culture was not well known by the outside world, or even by those well-versed with African studies. For example, the collection does not feature a large number of carved human figures or any figurine that could be connected to a deity of some sort. This could be taken as evidence that the Kuba had no religion, or had one that was not outwardly expressed through art. On the issue of the collection's scientific value, Jane E. Davis of the Southern Workman journal wrote that "it not only meets the requirements of the ethnologists, but those of the artist as well. Already it has been used by scientists to establish the origins of the culture of the Bakuba tribe".