Name/Title
Darkest Africa exhibit, Pan American Exposition, 1901Entry/Object ID
2022.61.42Description
Glass lantern slide of the entrance to the Darkest Africa exhibit at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, New York in 1901. "The Midway, Pan-Am, 1901" is written on the label on the slide. The Darkest Africa was an "African village" attraction put together by Xavier Pene (likely the man pointing over the crowd in the photo), a French national who grew up in Africa. Pene gathered and traveled with 98 Africans from various tribes to Buffalo, NY, where they performed dances, songs and other traditional arts. There is much debate on whether these performers came willingly or by coercion/force.