Black Livingstone

by Pagan Kennedy

"A largely untold story of an extraordinary historical figure, this biography sheds light on the life of William Sheppard, a 19th-century African American who, for more than 20 years, defied segregation and operated a missionary run by black Americans in the Belgian Congo. This work shows how Sheppard returned to United States periodically, and traveled the country telling tales of his adventures to packed auditoriums. An anthropologist, photographer, big-game hunter, and art collector, the man billed as the "Black Livingstone" helped expose the atrocities that occurred under the reign of King Leopold, and this stirring work tells how he eventually helped to break Belgium's hold on the Congo"-- "In 1890, a twenty-four-year-old African American missionary named William Henry Sheppard departed for what was then the Belgian Congo, where for more than twenty years he ran a mission staffed by black Americans. Returning to America periodically, he was billed as the "Black Livingstone" and tr