Ota Benga - The St. Louis World Fair

The St. Louis World Fair

The group arrived in St. Louis, Missouri without Verner, who had been taken ill with malaria, in late June 1904, after the Louisiana Purchase Exposition had already begun. They immediately became the center of attention; referred to variously by the press as Artiba, Autobank, Ota Bang, and Otabenga, Ota Benga was particularly popular. He had an amiable personality, visitors were eager to see his teeth, which had been filed to sharp points in his early youth as ritual decoration. The Africans had learned to charge for photographs and performances, and one newspaper account, promoting him as "the only genuine African cannibal in America", claimed " worth the five cents he charges for showing them to visitors".

When Verner arrived a month later, he realized the pygmies were more prisoners than performers. Their attempts to congregate peacefully in the forest on Sundays were thwarted by the crowds' fascination with them, as were McGee's attempts to present a "serious" scientific exhibit. On a July 28, their performing 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 American Indians at the Exhibition. The Apache chief Geronimo (featured as "The Human Tyger" – with special dispensation from the Department of War) came to admire Benga, and gave him one of his arrowheads. For his efforts, Verner was awarded the gold medal in anthropology at the Exposition's close.