Without Benjamin Banneker, our nation's
capital would not exist as we know it. After a year of work, the Frenchman
hired by George Washington to design the capital, L'Enfant, stormed off the
job, taking all the plans. Banneker, placed on the planning committee at
Thomas Jefferson's request, saved the project by reproducing from memory, in
two days, a complete layout of the streets, parks, and major buildings. Thus
Washington, D.C. itself can be considered a monument to the genius of this
great man.
Banneker's English grandmother immigrated
to the Baltimore area and married one of her slaves, named Bannaky. Later,
their daughter did likewise, and gave birth to Benjamin in 1731. Since by
law, free/slave status depended on the mother, Banneker, like his mother,
was---technically---free.
Banneker attended an elementary school run
by Quakers (one of the few "color-blind" communities of that
time); in fact, he later adopted many Quaker habits and ideas. As a young
man, he was given a pocket-watch by a business associate: this inspired
Banneker to create his own clock, made entirely of wood (1753). Famous as
the first clock built in the New World, it kept perfect time for forty
years.
During the Revolutionary War, wheat grown
on a farm designed by Banneker helped save the fledgling U.S. troops from
starving. After the War, Banneker took up astronomy: in 1789, he
successfully predicted an eclipse. From 1792 to 1802, Banneker published an
annual Farmer's Almanac, for which he did all the calculations himself.
starving. After the War, Banneker took up astronomy: in 1789, he
successfully predicted an eclipse. From 1792 to 1802, Banneker published an
annual Farmer's Almanac, for which he did all the calculations himself.
The Almanac won Banneker fame as far away
as England and France. He used his reputation to promote social change:
namely, to eliminate racism and war. He sent a copy of his first Almanac to
Thomas Jefferson, with a letter protesting that the man who declared that
"all men are created equal" owned slaves. Jefferson responded with
enthusiastic words, but no political reform. Similarly, Banneker's attempts
"to inspire a veneration for human life and an horror for war"
fell mainly on deaf ears.
But Banneker's reputation was never in
doubt. He spent his last years as an internationally known polymath: farmer,
engineer, surveyor, city planner, astronomer, mathematician, inventor,
author, and social critic. He died on October 25, 1806. Today, Banneker does
not have the reputation he should, although the entire world could still
learn from his words: "Ah, why will men forget that they are
brethren?"
Banneker's life is inspirational. Despite
the popular prejudices of his times, the man was quite unwilling to let his
race or his age hinder in any way his thirst for intellectual development.
known as the first African-American
man of science, was born in 1731 in Ellicott's Mills, Md. His maternal grandmother was a white Englishwoman who
came to this country, bought two slaves and then liberated
and married one of them; their daughter, who also married
a slave, was Banneker's mother.
From the beginning, Banneker, who was taught reading and religion by his grandmother and who attended one of the first integrated schools, showed a great propensity for mathematics and an astounding mechanical ability. Later, when he was forced to leave school to work the family farm, he continued to be an avid reader.
Although he had no previous training, when he was only 22 he invented a wooden clock that kept accurate time throughout his life. According to "Gay & Lesbian Biography," Banneker "applied his natural mechanical and mathematical abilities to diagrams of wheels and gears, and converted these into three-dimensional wooden clock-parts he carved with a knife." People from all over came to see the clock.
In 1773 he began making astronomical calculations for almanacs, and in the spring of 1789 he accurately predicted a solar eclipse; that same year, he was the first African-American appointed to the President's Capital Commission.
He never married and is not known to have had any liaisons with women. In one of his early essays he stated that poverty, disease and violence are more tolerable than the "pungent stings ... which guilty passions dart into the heart," causing some historians to view him as most probably homosexual. According to "Gay & Lesbian Biography," Banneker's "self-isolation and love of drink is sometimes cited as at least a partial explanation for his lifelong bachelorhood. But his grandmother, parents, and sisters were known to be people of considerable Christian dominance, and he always lived under their supervision." Also, as he grew older, Banneker daily read the Bible, the teachings of which may have helped quash any gay tendencies.
A self-taught surveyor, in 1789 he was called on to assist George Ellicott and Pierre Charles L'Enfant in laying out what would become the nation's capital.
In 1790, he sold his farm and spent the rest of his life publishing his works on astronomy, mathematics and the abolition of slavery. At the end of 1791, Banneker was publishing his almanac, greatly admired by then-Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson; the almanac was sent to Paris for inclusion at the Academy of Sciences. Once the almanac's publication was assured, Banneker, having previously corresponded with Jefferson on the intellectual quality of African-Americans, began a correspondence with him on the subject of the abolition of slavery.
Toward the end of his life, he produced a dissertation on bees, a study of locust-plague cycles and more letters on segregationist trends in America. He died at age 75 in Boston in 1806. In 1980, the U.S. Post Office issued a Black Heritage commemorative stamp in his honor.
From the beginning, Banneker, who was taught reading and religion by his grandmother and who attended one of the first integrated schools, showed a great propensity for mathematics and an astounding mechanical ability. Later, when he was forced to leave school to work the family farm, he continued to be an avid reader.
Although he had no previous training, when he was only 22 he invented a wooden clock that kept accurate time throughout his life. According to "Gay & Lesbian Biography," Banneker "applied his natural mechanical and mathematical abilities to diagrams of wheels and gears, and converted these into three-dimensional wooden clock-parts he carved with a knife." People from all over came to see the clock.
In 1773 he began making astronomical calculations for almanacs, and in the spring of 1789 he accurately predicted a solar eclipse; that same year, he was the first African-American appointed to the President's Capital Commission.
He never married and is not known to have had any liaisons with women. In one of his early essays he stated that poverty, disease and violence are more tolerable than the "pungent stings ... which guilty passions dart into the heart," causing some historians to view him as most probably homosexual. According to "Gay & Lesbian Biography," Banneker's "self-isolation and love of drink is sometimes cited as at least a partial explanation for his lifelong bachelorhood. But his grandmother, parents, and sisters were known to be people of considerable Christian dominance, and he always lived under their supervision." Also, as he grew older, Banneker daily read the Bible, the teachings of which may have helped quash any gay tendencies.
A self-taught surveyor, in 1789 he was called on to assist George Ellicott and Pierre Charles L'Enfant in laying out what would become the nation's capital.
In 1790, he sold his farm and spent the rest of his life publishing his works on astronomy, mathematics and the abolition of slavery. At the end of 1791, Banneker was publishing his almanac, greatly admired by then-Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson; the almanac was sent to Paris for inclusion at the Academy of Sciences. Once the almanac's publication was assured, Banneker, having previously corresponded with Jefferson on the intellectual quality of African-Americans, began a correspondence with him on the subject of the abolition of slavery.
Toward the end of his life, he produced a dissertation on bees, a study of locust-plague cycles and more letters on segregationist trends in America. He died at age 75 in Boston in 1806. In 1980, the U.S. Post Office issued a Black Heritage commemorative stamp in his honor.
Have you read the new Dan Brown book, The Lost Symbol, yet? Maybe you put it on your holiday wish list? If your answer to either question is yes, then you probably know the basic outline of the story – it takes place in Washington, D.C., and makes reference to a number of prominent D.C. sites, many of which have a connection to Freemasonry.
"The Initiated Eye" presents 21 oil paintings by Peter Waddell based on the architecture of Washington, D.C., and the role that our founding fathers and prominent citizens – many of whom were Freemasons – played in establishing the layout and design of the city. The exhibition is supplemented with approximately forty objects from the National Heritage Museum’s collection. The paintings and the objects explain and demystify Freemasonry for those who are unfamiliar, while also encouraging Masons and those who have read books like The Lost Symbol to look closer.
The painting shown here depicts a meeting between President George Washington (1732-1799) and surveyors Andrew Ellicott (1754-1820) and Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806).
Congress designated the location of the new capital on January 24, 1791. Ellicott and Banneker surveyed the ten-mile-square tract of land and produced a base map of the area. In the painting, a brazier warms the early spring day in the tent filled with surveying instruments and Masonic artifacts. The terrestrial and celestial globes symbolize the universality of Freemasonry.
Accompanying this painting in the exhibition is a surveyor’s compass made between 1849 and 1857 by Charles F. Helffricht (1816-1863) of Philadelphia. All compasses measure horizontal angles with reference to magnetic north. In addition, surveyor’s compasses have vertical sights to aim at distant objects.
"The Initiated Eye" opens December 19, 2009 and will be on view through January 9, 2011. The paintings in the exhibition are the work of Peter Waddell, and were commissioned by, and are the property of, the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Washington, D.C., with all rights reserved. This exhibition is supported by the Scottish Rite Masons of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, U.S.A.
Left: A Vision Unfolds, 2005, Peter Waddell (b. 1955), Washington, D.C. Courtesy of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Washington, D.C. Right: Surveyor’s Compass, 1849-1857, Charles F. Helffricht (1816-1863), Philadelphia, PA, National Heritage Museum, gift of Charles E. Daniels, 92.021.1a-f. Photograph by David Bohl.
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