What Are We Doing in the Congo?: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A pamphlet titled [What are We doing in the Congo?]. The cover features black print on discolored paper. Below the title, is a depiction of a hand labeled [USA BIG BUSINESS] rakes its fingers across a political map of the Congo, taking gold, copper, tin, uranium, diamonds, and cheap labor while leaving bodies in its wake. The interior consists of twenty-three pages of text. The back cover has an advertisement for New Outlook Publishers.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1965
• Published by: New Outlook Publishers, American
• Written by: Hyman Lumer, American
• Type: pamphlets
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 7 1/2 x 5 1/16 in. (19 x 12.8 cm)
• Place depicted: Congo (Republic of), Central Africa, Africa
• Place depicted: Belgium, Europe
• Place depicted: England, Europe
• Place depicted: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Belgian colonialism
• Topic: British colonialism
• Topic: Business
• Topic: Colonialism
• Topic: Decolonization
• Topic: International affairs
• Topic: Mass media
• Object number: 2010.55.30
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the family of Dr. Maurice Jackson and Laura Ginsburg
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.