Leopold II, king of Belgium, held Congo Free State as a personal colony from 1885 to 1908, when he was forced to turn over control of the vast central African territory to the Belgian state after an international human rights outcry. Leopold himself never stepped foot in the Congo. History begs us to ask: Is the allegorical woman in this commemorative card extending a helping hand to the allegorical innocents, or is she reaching for the ivory? (Publisher unknown; printed 1905)

READ Rick VanderKnyff's piece on A New Way to See Old Congo.