“[Ellicott] is attended by Benjamin Banniker, an Ethiopian, whose abilities, as a surveyor, and an astronomer, clearly prove that Mr. Jefferson’s concluding that race of men were void of mental endowments, was without foundation.”
- The Georgetown Weekly Ledger, 1791
Benjamin Banneker, a free African-American man living in a slave state in the 18th century, never knew the weight of iron shackles or the crack of a master's whip. Born in Baltimore County, Maryland in 1731, his life experiences were quite different from those of most African Americans living in the early United States. He received an education during his youth, maintained his property and farm as an adult, and used his intellectual gifts to gain national prestige.
Banneker was a largely self-educated mathematician, astronomer, compiler of almanacs and writer. Despite his many accomplishments, however, Benjamin Banneker was still forced to navigate the same racial prejudices that African Americans often faced in both slave and free states. Furthermore, on the day of Banneker's funeral in 1806, a fire destroyed many of his papers and belongings which is probably one of the reasons that his life isn't celebrated more during Black History Month.
If you are interested in learning more about Benjamin Banneker's story, hidden history that has remained long forgotten, please click the link below:
The above article, Benjamin Banneker: The Black Tobacco Farmer Who the Presidents Couldn't Ignore, was written by Louis Keene for the White House Historical Association.
Illustrated portrait of American author, astronomer, and farmer Benjamin Banneker (1731 - 1806), mid to late 18th century.
Plan of the city of Washington in the territory of Columbia. Banneker worked as an assistant surveyor with Andrew Ellicott, mapping the lands and creating the boundaries for the new federal capital (Photo courtesy of Library of Congress).
Benjamin Banneker's Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Almanack and Ephemeris, for the Year of Our Lord 1792 (Photo courtesy of Library of Congress).
Benjamin Bannaker's Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Almanac, for the Year of Our Lord 1795 (Photo courtesy of the Maryland Historical Society).
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