Benjamin Banneker

Friends and descendants of Benjamin Banneker gathered Nov. 10 to mark the 281st birthday of the famed African-American astronomer and mathematician who is also known for his work surveying the land that eventually became Washington, D.C. But this time the focus of the annual celebration at the Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum in Oella wasn't on the colonial-era African-American scientist and farmer. The honoree at Saturday's celebration was his grandmother, Molly Bannaky.

Friends and descendants of Benjamin Banneker gathered Nov. 10 to mark the 281st birthday of the famed African-American astronomer and mathematician who is also known for his work surveying the land that eventually became Washington, D.C. But this time the focus of the annual celebration at the Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum in Oella wasn't on the colonial-era African-American scientist and farmer. The honoree at Saturday's celebration was his grandmother, Molly Bannaky.

And so Molly Welsh, an Englishwoman sentenced to indentured servitude in 17th-century Maryland, wed an African slave named Bannaka. And they begat four daughters, one of whom was named Mary. And Mary wed a slave named Robert, who took her last name, which, by the time of their nuptials, had become Bannaky. Mary and Robert begat one son and three daughters. One of the daughters, Jemima, wed Samuel D. Lett. From that union came eight children, including a son named Aquilla. "Aquilla Lett eventually moved to Ohio," Gwen Marable said Saturday afternoon.

Since Washington has had a majority African-American population for many years, monuments in the city to important blacks should be a cinch to locate, right? At least that's what author and journalist Jesse J. Holland thought when he moved to the nation's capital a decade ago and embarked on a mission to acquaint himself with the history of a city that is practically overrun with statues. What he discovered was eye-opening, he told an audience of 30 who gathered Wednesday to hear him talk about his book, "Black Men Built the Capitol," at the central library in Columbia.

OELLA -- The Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum, a monument to the man known as the "first black man of science," was dedicated yesterday by Baltimore County Executive C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger.The Colonial-era almanac author lived and farmed tobacco at the 142-acre site of the museum at 300 Oella Ave. The dedication was attended by about 300 community members, politicians, descendants of Banneker and Friends of Benjamin Banneker, a group of volunteers that lobbied for the $2.5 million park and museum and helped find artifacts for exhibit.

It's easy to forget how close noisy and bustling U.S. 40 is as visitors drive along narrow roads, approaching the idyllic area encircling the Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum in Oella. The park and museum sit on a small portion of 142 acres tucked in the woods near Old Frederick Road in the historic mill town established in 1808, two years after Banneker's death. Opened in June 1998, the museum celebrates Baltimore County native Banneker, an African-American who was a self-taught scientist.

Tolerance has been a theme in Howard County's history. According to Alison Ellicott Mylander's book "The Ellicotts: Striving for a Holy Community," the Ellicott family, founder of Ellicott's Mills, exemplified the virtue more than 200 years ago. The Ellicott brothers, Joseph, Andrew and John - who purchased land for a mill east of the Patapsco River in 1771 - were Quakers. Benjamin Banneker, known as the nation's first black man of science, became a friend of the founders of Ellicott City at a time when such friendships were rare.

One was a reclusive farmer, son of a freed slave, grandson of an African prince, a self-taught man of extraordinary scientific talent at a time when intellectual pursuits were neither expected nor often tolerated in African-Americans.The other was secretary of state of the young American republic, author of the Declaration of Independence and other profound writings on human liberty -- and at the same time a Virginia planter and owner of slaves.As Benjamin Banneker sat down one day in August 1791 on his farm at Oella, Baltimore County, to write to Thomas Jefferson, it would have been hard to imagine two men more distant from one another in status and power.

1731: Benjamin Banneker is born Benjamin Banneker, the mathematician and inventor considered to have been America's first black scientist, was born Nov. 9, 1731. He spent most of his life on his father's farm in what is now Ellicott City. (Source: Macmillan Reference USA.) Sun news researcher Paul McCardell contributed to this item.

FRIDAY IS A free day at the Maryland Science Center.In honor of Benjamin Banneker's birthday, the science center will drop its admission fee and extend its hours from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.Visitors will be able to see the new IMAX film, "Blue Planet," the Davis Planetarium show, "Worlds of Wonder" and the special exhibit, Gorilla, along with the science center's regular displays. The staff of the Goddard Space Center will present "The Past, Present and Future of the Space Program" at 1 and 3 p.m.Benjamin Banneker was born in Baltimore in 1731.

Read what the people who knew the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. thought of him and the civil rights movement in Voices: Reflections on an American Icon Through Words and Song. The book includes locals Darryl R. Matthews Sr., general president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., and the Rev. Marcus Garvey Wood, pastor of Providence Baptist Church, who was a classmate of King's at Crozer Theological Seminary. Others who marched with King and share in his legacy, including Julian Bond, Dorothy Height and Nikki Giovanni, also reflect on the times and share their thoughts about the man, who was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn.

Nonprofit's first renovated house for sale in Dundalk The first house renovated by Dundalk Renaissance Corp. will be open to the community and potential buyers starting this morning. An open house is scheduled for 11 a.m. at the World War I-era stucco rowhouse. It is the first of two houses renovated by Dundalk Renaissance Corp. to be put on the market. The nonprofit organization hopes to renovate 100 houses over five years as part of an effort to revitalize the area. The first house has three bedrooms, 1 1/2 bathrooms, a new deck and a new high-efficiency heating and cooling system.

And so Molly Welsh, an Englishwoman sentenced to indentured servitude in 17th-century Maryland, wed an African slave named Bannaka. And they begat four daughters, one of whom was named Mary. And Mary wed a slave named Robert, who took her last name, which, by the time of their nuptials, had become Bannaky. Mary and Robert begat one son and three daughters. One of the daughters, Jemima, wed Samuel D. Lett. From that union came eight children, including a son named Aquilla. "Aquilla Lett eventually moved to Ohio," Gwen Marable said Saturday afternoon.

HERE COME THE HONS Hey hon. Goin' downy ocean this year, hon? Gonna have some genu-wine Bawlmer crabs, hon? Ooh yeah, you say. You're an honest-ta-goodness Murlinder. And proud of it. You're prouda them O's, uh, regardless. Prouda them Ravens. You "believe." Bawlmer's your home. Your heart. And yeah, hon, Saturday you'll be showing your hometown pride at HonFest in Hampden. This year's festival of all things Bawlmer will take place on the Avenue, across four blocks of 36th Street. Visitors to the all-day festival are encouraged to wear their highest beehive hairdos, bluest eye shadow, hottest spandex pants, funkiest leopard-print accessories or other Baltimore getups.

1731: Benjamin Banneker is born Benjamin Banneker, the mathematician and inventor considered to have been America's first black scientist, was born Nov. 9, 1731. He spent most of his life on his father's farm in what is now Ellicott City. (Source: Macmillan Reference USA.) Sun news researcher Paul McCardell contributed to this item.

Explore the natural world at a cultural landmark Saturdays through early August at the Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum in Ellicott City. Beginning this Saturday, young visitors to the park and museum can take part in the Summer Saturday Nature Series. The program, geared to all ages and free of charge, provides visitors with an educational and fun exploration of nature, at a unique location. The museum, which celebrates the life and accomplishments of African-American scientist Marylander Benjamin Banneker, is situated on a 142-acre historical site.

Benjamin Banneker was one of early America's authentic geniuses. In 1761, for example, his extraordinary mechanical inventiveness enabled him to build what was probably the first clock made in America -- a wooden "striking" clock so accurate that it kept perfect time for more than 20 years.Banneker's skill at mathematics and astronomy also allowed him to predict the solar eclipse of 1789 and play an important part in the six-man surveying team that laid out the blueprint for the District of Columbia.

Explore the natural world at a cultural landmark Saturdays through early August at the Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum in Ellicott City. Beginning this Saturday, young visitors to the park and museum can take part in the Summer Saturday Nature Series. The program, geared to all ages and free of charge, provides visitors with an educational and fun exploration of nature, at a unique location. The museum, which celebrates the life and accomplishments of African-American scientist Marylander Benjamin Banneker, is situated on a 142-acre historical site.

It's easy to forget how close noisy and bustling U.S. 40 is as visitors drive along narrow roads, approaching the idyllic area encircling the Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum in Oella. The park and museum sit on a small portion of 142 acres tucked in the woods near Old Frederick Road in the historic mill town established in 1808, two years after Banneker's death. Opened in June 1998, the museum celebrates Baltimore County native Banneker, an African-American who was a self-taught scientist.

The Patapsco Players will present its last performance of A Completely Different World at 3 p.m. Sunday at the historic Patapsco Manor in Elkridge. The performance is sponsored by the Friends of the Patapsco Valley and Heritage Greenway Inc. The hourlong production portrays life in the Patapsco Valley in the early and mid-20th century. "It takes the words of ... oral history and weaves them together and creates a portrait of community," said Sally Voris, the group's director. "We tell stories of how people came to the valley, and how they worked together and lived together -- or didn't.