In 1906, New York’s Bronx Zoo was the largest zoo in the world. More than 800 birds, reptiles and beasts of all kinds. But that year, the zoo introduced a new exhibit that would quickly became its most popular attraction. In the monkey house, right next to an orangutan, there was a man… inside a cage.

On the cage was this sign:

African Pigmy

Age 23 years

Height 4 feet 11 inches

Weight 103 pounds

Exhibited each afternoon during September.

Today on the Radio Diaries Podcast, the story of the man in the zoo. His name was Ota Benga.