Black History Month
Each February Small Dog Electronics celebrates black history month. We use our blog and newsletters to honor African Americans contributions to our country. At Small Dog we celebrate diversity and are happy to be a part of Black History Month.
Here is an article written by former Small Dogger, Mark Jones on Benjamin Bannekar:
African Americans in Science and Technology by Mark Jones
It’s Black History Month once again. As we did last year in Kibbles &
Bytes, each week we will spotlight an African American who has made a
contribution to American society. This year our focus will be in the
fields of science and technology. We’ll start at the beginning of our
country’s history with Benjamin Banneker.
Benjamin Banneker, son of Robert and Mary Bannaky, was born in 1731.
His grandfather was a slave from Africa and his grandmother an
indentured servant from England. His grandfather was known as Banna Ka,
then later as Bannaky, his grandmother as Molly Walsh. His grandmother
was a maid in England who had been sent to Maryland as an indentured
servant. When she finished her seven years of bondage, she bought a
farm along with two slaves to help her take care of it. Walsh freed
both slaves and married one, Bannaky. They had several children, among
them a daughter named Mary. When Mary Bannaky grew up, she bought a
slave named Robert, married him, and had several children, including
Benjamin.
Benjamin Banneker grew up on the family farm. Around town it was known
as Bannaky Springs due to the fresh water springs on the land. Bannaky
used ditches and little dams to control the water from the springs for
irrigation. His work was so reliable that the Bannakys’ crops
flourished even in dry spells. The family of free blacks raised good
tobacco crops all the time.
Molly, Banneker’s grandmother, taught him and his brothers to read,
using her Bible as a lesson book. There was no school in the valley for
the boys to attend. Then one summer a Quaker schoolteacher came to live
in the valley. He set up a school for boys. Benjamin Bannaky attended
this school. The schoolmaster changed the spelling of his name to
Banneker. At school Benjamin learned to write and do simple arithmetic.
When Banneker was twenty-one, a remarkable thing happened: he saw a
patent watch. The watch belonged to a man named Josef Levi. Banneker
was absolutely fascinated with the watch. He had never seen anything
like it. Levi gave Banneker his watch. This was to change his life.
Banneker took the watch apart to see how it worked. He carved similar
watch pieces out of wood and made a clock of his own — the first
striking clock to be made completely in America. Banneker’s clock was
so precise that it struck every hour, on the hour, for forty years. His
work on the clock led him to repair watches, clocks, and sundials.
Banneker even helped Joseph Ellicott to build a complex clock. Banneker
became close friends with the Ellicott brothers. They lent him books on
astronomy and mathematics as well as instruments for observing the
stars. Banneker taught himself astronomy and advanced mathematics.
Banneker’s parents died, leaving him the farm since his two sisters had
married and moved away. Banneker built a “work cabin” with a skylight
to study the stars and make calculations. Working largely alone, with
few visitors, he compiled results which he published in his Almanac:
Benjamin Banneker’s Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia
Almanack and Ephemeris for the Year of Our Lord, 1792; Being
Bissextile, or Leap-Year, and the Sixteenth Year of American
Independence. (Baltimore, MD: Goddard & Angell, printers), 1797
Around this time, Major Andrew Ellicott, George Ellicott’s cousin,
asked Banneker to help him survey the “Federal Territory.” Banneker and
Ellicott worked closely with Pierre L’Enfant, the architect in charge
of planning Washington D.C. L’Enfant was suddenly dismissed from
project, due to his temper. When he left, he took the plans with him.
Banneker recreated the plans from memory, saving the U.S. government
the effort and expense of having someone else design the capital.
Although Banneker studied and recorded his results until he died, he
stopped publishing his Almanac due to poor sales. Banneker died on
Sunday, October 9, 1806. For years he has been referred to as “the
first Negro Man of Science.”