Congo Free State
Joseph Conrad’s novel "Heart of Darkness", originally published in 1899 as a three-part series in "Blackwood's Magazine", inspired by his service as a captain on a steamer on the Congo 12 years before, sparked an organized international opposition to Leopold's exploitational activities. In 1900, Edmund Dene Morel, a part-time journalist and head of trade with Congo for the Liverpool shipping firm Elder Dempster, noticed that ships that brought vast loads of rubber from the Congo only ever returned there loaded with guns and ammunition for the "Force Publique". Morel became a journalist and then a publisher, attempting to discredit Leopold's regime. In 1902, Morel retired from his position at Elder Dempster to focus on campaigning. He founded his own magazine, "The West African Mail", and conducted speaking tours in Britain.
Ellen Olney Kirk
Ellen Warner Olney wrote as a young woman, but did not publish her first novel until age 34. Novels by Ellen Olney Kirk include "Love in Idleness" (serialized 1876-1877, under pseudonym "Henry Hayes"); "His Heart's Desire" (1878); "The Story of Margaret Kent" (1886, again as "Henry Hayes"); "Sons and Daughters" (1887); "Queen Money" (1888); "A Daughter of Eve" (1889); "Walford" (1890); "Ciphers" (1891); "The Story of Lawrence Garthe" (1894); "Revolt of a Daughter" (1897); "Dorothy and her Friends" (1899); "A Remedy for Love" (1902); "Good-bye, Proud World" (1903); and "Marcia" (1907). Contemporary reviewers considered her work somewhat old-fashioned, especially after the turn into the twentieth century, but some were charmed by the
familiar plots and the absence of overt social commentary. Her 1898 Christmas book for young readers, "Dorothy Deane: A Children's Story", was illustrated by Philadelphia artist Sarah Stilwell Weber.