author
Henry Wellington Wack
1869–1954
An American attorney and writer with a surprisingly varied career, he is best remembered today for a 1905 book defending Leopold II’s Congo Free State. He also published on subjects ranging from Panama and Newark history to camps, poetry, and public affairs.
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About the author
Born in 1869 and active across law, journalism, and writing, Henry Wellington Wack built a career that reached into several corners of public life. Library and archival records connect him with a long list of books and pamphlets, showing an author who wrote widely rather than staying in a single lane.
His best-known work is The Story of the Congo Free State (1905), a book that presented a favorable view of Leopold II’s rule in Central Africa. Modern reference sources note him as an American attorney and writer associated with that defense of the Congo Free State, which makes his work part of a larger and often troubling chapter in colonial history.
Wack’s bibliography also points to broader interests, including civic celebrations, travel, youth camps, and literary projects. That mix gives him the feel of a prolific early-20th-century man of letters: professionally trained in law, but drawn again and again to public debate, historical commemoration, and print culture.