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Celebrating the Accomplishments of Black Americans
February is a special month as we celebrate the lives and accomplishments of many black American citizens. Throughout your workplace, from the NCI-Frederick Café to Fort Detrick’s post, you can see displays noting these accomplishments. In addition, a number of activities, from food to hip-hop, blues, and jazz (see listing on the NCI-Frederick Web site), have been scheduled.
Benjamin Banneker (1731–1806): Engineer, Astronomer, Architect
Benjamin Banneker was famed as an engineer, astronomer, and architect. Biographer Charles Cerami speculates that Banneker gained much of his early knowledge about astronomy and physics from his Irish-born grandmother, Molly, whose husband, Banneka, came from the Dogan, an African tribe learned in astronomy and physics. At age 15, Benjamin took over the family tobacco farm and designed an irrigation system of ditches and dams to control the flow of water from the farm's springs.
Skilled (and self-taught) in technical drawing, at age 22 he took apart a friend's pocket watch, made a drawing of each component, then reassembled the watch, and returned it, fully functioning, to its owner. From those drawings Banneker then built a wooden clock that kept accurate time for more than 40 years. Based on the fame he gained from building that clock, he began a watch and clock repair business.
As years went by, Banneker delved into astronomy and advanced mathematics. George Ellicott, himself an amateur mathematician and astronomer, lent Banneker astronomy tools and books on astronomy and mathematics. According to some versions of Banneker's biography, he became so interested in astronomy that he would often stay up all night, studying the stars and planets. Banneker predicted a solar eclipse that occurred on April 14, 1789, contradicting the forecasts of his better known scientist-contemporaries. He also compiled information tables for his annual Benjamin Banneker's Almanac , sold throughout Pennsylvania , Virginia , and Kentucky until 1802.
In 1791, the Georgetown Weekly Ledger reported that President George Washington had appointed then 60-year-old Banneker to a three-man team of surveyors to survey the future District of Columbia . Some reports of Banneker's life indicate that he and the team leader, Andrew Ellicott, worked closely with architect Pierre L'Enfant, and that when L'Enfant returned to France , taking all the plans with him, Banneker recreated the plans from memory. Other sources we consulted for this article dispute this claim, reporting that Banneker spent only two months with the survey team, and that L'Enfant was still working in Washington in 1792.
As well as the almanac, Banneker published a treatise on bees, did a mathematical study on the cycle of the 17-year locust, and became a pamphleteer for the anti-slavery movement. As he neared his life's end, he maintained a busy life with nighttime astronomy observations, gardening, and receiving visits from well-known scientists and artists. He died in 1806, aged 74 .
is fame and his support of abolition of slavery caused controversy during his life, and sadly, on the day of his burial, his house with all of its papers, books, studies, and the famous clock, burned to the ground. The few papers, books, and clocks that survived were those owned by the Ellicott family. Over time, the house site disappeared but was rediscovered in the 1990s near Ellicott City . In 1980, the U.S. Postal Service issued a postage stamp in his honor.
NEXT: Guion “Guy” Bluford
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