ota benga was written by philip werner redford the grandson of the african explorer who brought ota benga to the united states. according to the introduction the book was the story of friendship between ota benga and samuel werner. from the first few pages i was intrigued by the notion that werner had forged a friendship with his african subject who then somehow ended up in a zoo being displayed with apes. the color color for narrative was akin to the tale of robinson crusoe and his sidekick friday but had no citations and was almost entirely based on verner's uncorroborated accounts. the book nonetheless etched verner's tale of friendship into ota benga within the history. i sought out other sources. i turned to the wildlife conservation society better known as the bronx zoo. it had recorded sub five's exhibition. the plot fit in. gathering of animals in an conventional history of the new york zoological society first published in 1974 explores the history of the zoo beginning with its creation in 1899. in recounting the episode william bridges assumes curator publications contended that