Benjamin
Banneker
Click Here to View the Designs for the Memorial
When hired
by America's
Geographer General ,Major Andrew Ellicott, Banneker became a member of the very first presidential appointed team in the history
of America. This was a natural sequence
in the course of events in Banneker's life however, because he was a man of many firsts.
The year
was 1791 when historic milestones were made. Members of the surveying and planning team were, in fact, laying the foundation
for the new nation's capital.
Banneker
first gained notoriety in 1753, when at age 22, he designed a wooden clock deferred to as the very first clock made entirely
of indigenous parts. The clock struck every hour, on the hour, for over fifty years.
People
would travel from far and near to witness Banneker's clock. Over the years, he would continue to demonstrate his genius as
a scientist, mathematician, farmer, astronomer, surveyor, engineer, Abolitionist, planner, and publisher of almanacs;in addition
to his crowning professional achievement in working with Major Andrew Ellicott, Major Charles Pierre L'Enfant and the three
Commissioners [Daniel Carroll, Dr. David Stuart, and Thomas Johnson] appointed by America'sFounding President, George Washington,
to establish the nation's capitol.
L'Enfant
Plaza/Benjamin Banneker Memorial Site
WIC is
charged with raising $25 million to erect a 14 foot, heroic sized Statue, Founding Architect's Visitors Center, 30-40 foot Tower Clock and
Historic Exhibits within the confines of a beautifully landscaped cultural park setting, perfectly sandwiched between the
Mall and the waterfront.
Once the
renovation of the site is finalized, replete with new lush landscaping, overhead canopy, benches, trees, new lighting, outdoor
cafes, street level retail shops, an open vista to Smithsonian Castle [facilitated by WIC's recommended, and approved, removal
of the obstructive sections of the U.S. Dept. of Energy building], Astronomical Art and other amenities, the L'Enfant Plaza
corridor will serve as the connective cultural gateway between the Mall and the newly renovated world class waterfront slated
for completion no later than the year 2010.
The L'Enfant
Plaza renovation was facilitated by WIC as a result of successfully lobbying the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, under the aegis
of its TEA21 program, to underwrite the renewal.
WIC currently
serves as a member of the Oversight Committee on the L'Enfant Plaza renovation currently underway.
The agency
will unveil its prototype model of the Banneker Memorial during Banneker's birth month, November, of 2006.
Afterwards,
WIC will begin its campaign for design approval before the U.S. Fine Arts Commission, the final major approval process mandated
under the tenets of the 1984 Commemorative Works Act, the legislative protocol governing the nation's commemorative process.
- In 1753, Benjamin Banneker engineered the first striking clock made entirely of
indigenous American parts . This invention marked the advent of his rise to fame as people would travel from far and near
to witness his remarkable invention. Made entirely of hand carved wood parts and pinions, the clock struck on the hour for
over 50 years
- Banneker was the first to track the 17 year locust cycle, a valuable revelation
to farmers enabling them to prepare for attacks by locusts on their crops.
- Banneker was among the first scientific farmers to employ crop rotation and water
irrigation techniques. He enjoyed eviable results as a tobacco farmer, and harvested his own food crop.
- Banneker was among the first Americans, and the first African-American, to publish
almanacs , a valuable tool in an agricultural economy. His almanacs were publicly sold from 1792 to 1799, and did quite well.
- Banneker was the first high profile Black Civil Rights leader . He risked life and
limb to work with the French and American Abolitionists of the day, nearly a century prior to Frederick Douglass, Harriet
Tubman and Sojourner Truth. He voiced opposition to slavery and the execution and oppression of Native Americans at a time
when Africans were being brought to the shores of America
en masse as slaves . Most of the Founding Fathers that Banneker worked with on the Federal
City project were slave owners.
- Banneker was the first scientist to study the relativity of time and space, and
his revelations on the topic preceded Einstein's Theory of Relativity by two centuries.
- Banneker was the first to disclose in his writings that the Star of Sirius is two
stars rather than one. His hypothesis was not confirmed until the event of the Hubble Telescope two centuries later at NASA.
- Banneker was the first American scientist to suggest that salient beings perhaps
lived on other planets, a topic barely touched upon in the 18th century.
- Banneker was a member of the first presidential appointed team charged with the
establishment of the nation's capitol. His astronomical calculations and implementations played a critical role is establishing
points of astronomical significance in the nation's capitol, including the location of the 16th Street Meridian, Boundary
Stones, White House, Capitol and Treasury Building.
- Banneker worked as Assistant to Major Andrew Ellicott, America's Geographer General, thereby serving as a critical member
of the team of the first presidential commission. In this capacity, he provided the astronomical calculations for the project,
and assisted in the reconstruction of the plans for laying out the streets of the nation's capitol. He and Major Ellicott
both surveyed the area of, and configured the final layout for, the placement of major governmental buildings, boulevards
and avenues as drawn for the map for the nation's capitol, producing the finished document commonly deferred to as the L'Enfant
Plan. The actual L'Enfant Plan was the result of their work in recreating the draft of the document
initially worked on by L'Enfant, Thomas Jefferson and President Washington. Contrary to popular belief, the L'Enfant
Plan was not produced by Major Charles L'Enfant, but was named for L'Enfant at the behest of President George Washington
in honor of L'Enfant having provided the preliminary vision for the layout of the nation's capitol.
- Banneker was the author of the first publicly documented protest letter. The letter
was written to then Secretary of State , Thomas Jefferson , denouncing the Bill of Rights as disingenuous. Banneker questioned
the rationale of the imperialistic position taken by the Founding Fathers, especially in light of their rebellion against
the tyranny imposed on them by England as settlers seeking a better life
in America.
- Banneker, in his debut almanac of 1792 , was the first to recommend the establishment
of a U.S. Department of Peace. It wasn't until nearly two hundred years later that the U.S. Institute of Peace was established by Congressional authorization in 1984. On their website, at www.usip.org, the organization acknowledges Banneker for his role as the pioneering agent of this idea and states:
The
first formal proposal for the establishment of an official U.S.
government peace institution dates to 1792. The product of efforts by architect and publisher Benjamin Banneker and physician
and educator Dr. Benjamin Rush. The proposal called for establishing a "Peace Office" on equal footing with the War Department
-- noting the importance to the welfare of the United States
of "an office for promoting and perserving perpetual peace in our country.
1/03/06
CONCLUSION: The 2nd Reconstruction
100 Years of reconstruction
Black -Architectural Justice: The 2nd Reconstruction
– Equality, Fairness & Economic Justice
Constructing
Modern America - The Early 20th
Century into the Early-New Millennium:
Separate but equal
facilities and policy of the Jim Crow laws of the south- were actually separate and unequal and fundamentally and architecturally
flawed ideals and violations of the architectural laws of ethical, fair and just society as well as issues of white preference
during the 50’s and 60’s and in Americas past history, they are also Political problems that are architecturally
and culturally incorrect, unethical and unfashionable and are internationally unworthy constructs for a free society to build
upon. Therefore our cities and the country is much in need of black /Afro- architectural solutions to correct the problems
of an imbalanced unjust past history of the country. The 50’ 60’s and 70’s were times of Black protest to
the domination, subjugation and subordination by mainstream white America and the improper
politics and values of the country, In essence the Black-leaders of the mid 20th century were protesting because
of the architectural problems of the country and were all involved in deconstructing unfair policy/laws and reconstructing
the country to bring about the architectural or comprehensive change necessary to rebuild the country as a country which values
the fairness and freedoms of all of its citizens Black or White and considers people of color
an important part of the architectural future of the country, most importantly because their ancestors were the ones
who slaved to build prosperity of the countries future - agriculturally, industrially
and militarily, the struggles of the 1950’s-60’s/mid 20th Century in retrospect was not only for civil
rights but mostly for the “architectural justice” necessary
so that people of color can be provided with a future in this country (the country that they have slaved to build - both in
modern times as free people and during the height of slavery or the post slavery- reconstruction era). This is the “Second Reconstruction” of America, Highlighted by the Activist-Architects and leaders of the 50’s
and 60’s but ultimately Resolved by Black Architectural / Socio-political & creative business and arts community
of the late 20th century and the New Millennium as working together as Architects of the Future.
Joseph Edgecombe,
FACTS/AOF
Reconstruction:
(research)
In the history of the United
States, reconstruction was the period after the American Civil
War when the states of the breakaway Confederacy were reintegrated into the United
States of America.
History has been very hotly contested. From about
1900 to 1960, the dominant Dunning School
argued that Reconstruction was a mistake, at least after 1866. In the 1940s a different approach was pioneered by Howard Beale
and C. Vann Woodward. As disciples of Charles A. Beard they focused on greed and economic causation and downplayed the centrality
of corruption. In the 1960s neo-abolitionist historians, with strong sympathy for the Civil Rights Movement rejected the Dunning
school and found a great deal to praise in reconstruction. They argued that it was
never completed, and that a Second Reconstruction was needed in the late 20th century to complete the goal of full equality
for African Americans. (Wikipedia)
Legacy
of Reconstruction: (research)
The legacy
of Reconstruction was initially viewed as a failure. Following Reconstruction and the perpetuation of segregation, the
romanticized idea of the South was born, and many in the New South began decrying the corruption during Reconstruction. Works
of this period (such as The Clansman and The Leopard's Spots) glorified the white supremacist and Redeemer governors, as well
as vigilante organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan, and romanticized the true nature of antebellum South, especially in regard
to the treatment and disposition of African-Americans. These sentiments found outlets in the Twentieth Century in the form
of D.W. Griffith's silent movie (based on The Clansman), Birth of A Nation, as well as in the work produced by the Dunning
School of History at Columbia University, which viewed Reconstruction as a failure because it gave freedom and rights to blacks,
and that these developments should never have come to pass (this school of historical thought provided much justification
for the segregation of the South and for Jim Crow laws). However, by the middle to latter part of the Twentieth Century, historians,
most notably, Eric Foner (who ironically was working with funds from the William Archibald Dunning Grant) rewrote and revised
the historical views on Reconstruction, shedding new light on the lives of the people both black and white who participated
in this exciting point in American history. This new research highlighted the real tragedy of Reconstruction, that it failed
not because blacks were incapable of governing, but because the civil rights and equalities granted during this period were
but a passing temporary development, and that these rights would ultimately be removed, only to wait until the 1950s and 1960s, for the rise of the Civil Rights Movement what is sometimes referred to as "Second Reconstruction."
(Wikipedia)
Americas
Racial Problems and Dilemmas:
It has been established
that Americas racial problems were not
resolved during the 1960’s partially
due to the assassination of black leaders and others political leaders such as the Kennedy’s during the 1960’s. Black America has been consistently pressed for a more fair, just and equality
based country after the civil rights movement of the 50’s/60’s Modernism era through the fast passed 1980’s
to today’s New Millennium 2000 era.
The 60’s can
be viewed as or serves as a foundation to build the American society upon, Black Architects
Week give us the creative tools to plan, build, study society and concepts for the future, Black America has been consistently
and ambitiously building upon the 1960’s foundation era since the 70’s and through the 80’s, 90’s and into the new millennium because the progress an problems of Black America did
not end during the 1960’s (as many people in the mainstream think) but continues to today, and as Architects of the
future of America - Black Americans set a higher agenda for America, that agenda is to build a better and stronger country
that is morally ethically and justifiably progressive not a country that abuses
its freedoms with acts of malice or hatred that go unmonitored or overlooked –
such as the case with the white dominated overly-white (others) and unjust-Architectural Profession.
Black Power, Power to the people (reenactment)
The source the creation
of the past present and future of America
must come from its people.
The
creative power of black America and Americas cities and communities needs to be recognized and maintained , and the city council
needs to recognize that black architects have the power of creativity to carry
the city and country into the future in many ways and ultimately as the architects of the future. They are area key factor
to creating the future of the city of Boston and other cities, the who arm the power of creativity and construction instead of instead of destruction – from the 1960’s/70’s age of being
young gifted and black to the age of creating revolutionary change in modern America in the new millennium. Just as in
the 1968 Olympics champions celebrated their victories by raising the black power symbol of creating change for the better,
so should we all celebrate Black Power in the architectural industry, the city of Boston
and in the country.
Reenactment of Rosa Parks bus ride: 50th
anniversary celebration,
Black/Afro.
Culture recognizes the “Second Reconstruction” of the United States - the struggles of the Civil Rights movement
and Rosa Parks protest against inhumane treatment and the current national movement for a “Human Rights Day” based
on Rosa Parks efforts- and the march which took place in Boston on Dec. 1st. 2005, emphasizing racial discontent
which still is part of our society today and the need for a Human Rights Day – by the citizens and residents of Boston
and the Boston area, which also took place in other cities across the country.
History has been
very hotly contested, and it has been argued that reconstruction (of the country)
was never completed, and that a Second Reconstruction was needed in the late 20th century to complete the goal of full equality
for African Americans. The real tragedy of Reconstruction (during the 1800’s), was that it failed not because blacks
were incapable of governing, but because the civil rights and equalities granted during this period were but a passing temporary
development, and that these rights would ultimately be removed, only to wait until
the 1950s and 1960s, for the rise of the Civil Rights Movement what is sometimes referred to as "Second Reconstruction."
Submission by: F.A.C.T.S.
- FactXchange.com
Joseph Edgecombe,
FACTS- Spokesman, Architectural Scholar/Leader
Organizer of the
FACTS Communications & Design-Xchange/Association
Boston, MA 02124
Black medalists raise fists for Civil Rights Movement
|
Tommie Smith (center) and John Carlos raise fists for Black Power in 1968. (Source: AP)
|
It was the most popular medal ceremony of all time. The photographs of two black American sprinters
standing on the medal podium with heads bowed and fists raised at the Mexico City Games in 1968 not only represent one of the most memorable moments in Olympic history but a milestone in America's civil rights movement.
The two men were Tommie Smith and John Carlos. Teammates at San Jose State College, Smith and Carlos
were stirred by the suggestion of a young sociologist friend Harry Edwards, who asked them and all the other black American athletes to join together and boycott the games. The protest, Edwards hoped, would bring attention to the fact that America's civil rights movement had not gone far enough to
eliminate the injustices black Americans were facing. Edwards' group, the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR), gained
support from several world-class athletes and civil rights leaders but the all-out boycott never materialized.
Still impassioned by Edwards' words, Smith and Carlos secretly planned
a non-violent protest in the manner of Martin Luther King, Jr. In the 200-meter race, Smith won the gold medal and Carlos the bronze. As the American flag rose and the Star-Spangled Banner played, the two closed their eyes, bowed their heads, and began their protest.
Smith later told the media that he raised
his right, black-glove-covered fist in the air to represent black power in America while Carlos' left, black-covered fist represented unity in
black America. Together they formed an
arch of unity and power. The black scarf around Smith's neck stood for black pride and their black socks (and no shoes) represented
black poverty in racist America.
While the protest seems relatively tame by today's standards, the actions
of Smith and Carlos were met with such outrage that they were suspended from their national team and banned from the Olympic
Village, the athletes' home during the games.
A lot of people thought that political statements had no place in the supposedly apolitical Olympic Games. Those
that opposed the protest cried out that the actions were militant and disgraced Americans. Supporters, on the other hand,
were moved by the duo's actions and praised them for their bravery. The protest had lingering effects for both men, the most
serious of which were death threats against them and their families.
Smith and Carlos, who both now coach high school track teams, were honored in 1998 to commemorate the 30th anniversary
of their protest.
An interesting side note to the protest was that the 200m silver medallist in 1968, Peter Norman of Australia (who is white), participated in the protest
that evening by wearing a OPHR badge.
Black power
the political and economic power of black Americans as a group, esp. such power used for achieving
racial equality.
A movement among Black
Americans emphasizing racial pride and social equality through the creation of Black political and cultural institutions:
“Black Power... calls for black people to consolidate behind their own, so that they can bargain from a position of
strength” (Stokely Carmichael and Charles Hamilton).
The culmination of resources
to create architectural-urban/socio-economic justice for all
Joseph Edgecombe
