William Henry Sheppard’s Country of My Forefathers

This chapter examines the work of a former Hampton student who also traveled to the Congo in 1890 as cofounder of the American Presbyterian Congo Mission (APCM). Sheppard’s articles and speeches circulated widely through networks of HBCUs, the press, and the church. In particular, his 1899 eyewitness report on the brutal practice of hand-severing became a foundational document for Congo Reform Association (CRA) activists like E. D. Morel and Mark Twain. Sheppard’s writings tell a different story than canonical literary portraits of the region like Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness by exhibiting an appreciation for the voices of the Congolese people, a point which was emphasized when, after being charged with libel by the colonial authorities, Sheppard arranged for Congolese witnesses to testify in his defense. After his forced retirement from the APCM in 1910, he continued to work on behalf of the Congo, speaking to prominent audiences throughout the United States.