About Us

This website is a virtual museum of what happened in the Congo during the time that King Leopold II ruled.  There are videos, voice testimonies, and photographs from people who experienced the brutality of the Congo.  There are also biographies of some of the key players of the Congo.  To round it out, I also have some articles about how the Congo is still suffering today.

Congo: White King, Red Rubber, Black Death Documentary

This is a movie describing how King Leopold II turned the Congo into his private colony during the early 1900's.  It is a documentary that helps show how the first Human Rights movement was spurred by what was happening in the Congo.  The director uses footage of villages in the Congo and actors to help explain what happened.

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/congo-white-king-red-rubber-black-death/

Royal Museum for Central Africa

The Royal Museum for Central Africa was an exhibition created by King Leopold II to promote the Congo in Brussels, Belgium.  Inside the museum were artifacts, pictures, clothing, and even fish from the Congo.  Today the museum is still in Brussles but it is closed for renovations.  However, they have a virtual tour online as well as sending their exhibitions for other museums to enjoy in the meantime.

http://www.africamuseum.be/about-us/museum/history

The photo below is a picture of the museum.

Henry Morton Stanley Bio

Henry Morton Stanley was an American journalist and explorer who is famous for mapping about the heart of Africa.  He would write about his trips in what is now the Congo and also his explorations.  Eventually he worked for King Leopold II to help colonize Africa.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/stanley_sir_henry_morton.shtml

Below is a picture of Henry Morton Stanley

Congo Dialogues of Alice Seeley Harris and Sammy Baloji

This webpage shows different archive photos from both Alice Seeley Harris and Sammy Baloji.  Alice Seeley Harris talks about what it was like living in the Congo in a voice clip.  It is 10 minutes of her perspective of living in the Congo that most people have not heard of.  Sammy Baloji has pictures of what the Congo looks like today.  Baloji continues to investigate how the colonial legacies still affect the Congo.

http://autograph-abp.co.uk/exhibitions/congo-dialogues  

This is a photo that Alice Seeley Harris took in the Congo.

Congo Reform Association

This is a facebook page dedicated to the Congo Reform Association.  The CRA is a non-profit organization dedicated to bring global awareness and action towards ending the Congo conflict.  The original CRA disbanded in 1912 because they achieved their goal of freeing Congo from Belgium.  The new CRA wants to inspire others to always fight for what is right.

https://www.facebook.com/congoreformassociation/info

This photo shows how the Congo's wealth was not worth all the lives that it lost.  It also relates the Congo genocide to the Jewish Holocaust.

Congo- The Free State

This article talks about the colonization of the Congo and the eventual independence from the country of Belgium.  The Congo was made a private colony by King Leopold II of Belgium.  After Leopold died the Congo was given to the country of Belgium but the Congo people wanted their own country.  Finally after lots of political unrest the Congo gained it's freedom on June 30, 1960.

http://www.yale.edu/gsp/colonial/belgian_congo/

The first photo is of the Democratic of the Congo's flag.  The second photo is where the Congo is on a world map.

E.D. Morel Biography

This is an article about E.D. Morel and his work in the Congo.  He was a newspaper writer who was a shipping company account in Liverpool and went to work in the Congo.  He saw the shipping of weapons to the Congo and quickly realized that the Congo was not a trade partner.  Morel soon staged a war against King Leopold II and helped to bring down the war going on in the Congo.  He was also one of the key members for the Congo Reform Association.

http://www.catalystmedia.org.uk/issues/nerve7/edmund_morel.htm

How the Congo is still suffering after independence

This article talks about how the Congo is still suffering 50 years after it has gained it's independence.  The underdeveloped country only has 300 miles of paved road, has no land line for phones, and is still experiencing lots of violence.  A lot of the people in the Congo still blame Belgium for what King Leopold did.  This article was produced by Fox News.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/06/29/congo-brutalized-belgian-colonizer-suffering-years-independence/

The photo below is what the Congo looks like today.

Alice Seeley Harris Photos

Alice Seeley Harris was most memorable for her photos of the brutality that took place in the Congo.  She made millions of people realize that violence was really happening instead of peace.  This website has multiple pages of photos that Alice took.  Panos Pictures, which is the website where these photos can be found, is a photo agency that specializes in global social issues.

http://www.panos.co.uk/bin/panos2.dll/go?a=disp&rs=1&pt=1&_m=2&_men=menu_2&_yp1=0&usp=0&_spe=0&t=sr-loadersearch.html&searchtext=alice+seeley+harris&_sf0=&_sf1=&_sf2=&_sf3=&_toc=1&_sis=1&si=

This is one of her most famous photos.

Alice Seeley Harris Biography

This website is a biography over Alice Seeley Harris who was a photographer in the Congo during the time of it's Beligum Colonization.  She originally went to the Congo with her husband as a missionary.  Once she saw what was really happening in the Congo she started taking pictures and sending them to newspapers.  Her pictures helped shed light that slavery and murder were really happening in the Congo and not just trade.

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ism/exhibitions/brutal-exposure/alice-seeley-harris.aspx

Below is a picture of Alice Seeley Harris with her husband and Congo people.

The Butcher of the Congo- King Leopold II of Belgium

This article is a biography of King Leopold II of Belgium and how he was driven by desire for the wealth of a colony.  He learned that Henry Morton Stanley was exploring Africa and had Stanley conquer the land for his own.  Eventually the Congo became his own private colony and enforced brutality on the Congolese people.  Millions of Congolese people died during the colonization of the country.

 http://digitaljournal.com/blog/11297

Congo-The Brutal History

This is a ten minute video about the brutality that went on the Congo.  It gives lots of historical evidence as well personal stories from people who lived during that time.  This video is part of a documentary that the BBC made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx2Sj1fhSso