page_title: Mythology of Benjamin Banneker
section_title: Historical marker in Newseum, Washington, DC
hierarchical_section_title: Mythology of Benjamin Banneker / Historical markers / Historical marker in Newseum, Washington, DC
caption_attribution_description: English: Newseum — Pennsylvania Ave. facade and entrance, in Washington, D.C.
context_page_description: According to accounts that began to appear during the 1960s or earlier, a substantial mythology has exaggerated the accomplishments of Benjamin Banneker, who was a free African-American almanac author, surveyor, landowner and farmer who had knowledge of mathematics, astronomy and natural history. Well-known speakers, writers, artists and others have created, repeated and embellished a large number of such questionable reports during the two centuries that have elapsed since Banneker lived.
  Several such urban legends describe Banneker's alleged activities in the Washington, D.C., area around the time that he assisted Andrew Ellicott in the initial survey of the boundaries of the future federal district. Others involve his clock, his astronomical works, his almanacs and his journals. Although part of African-American culture, all lack support by historical evidence. Some are contradicted by such evidence.
context_section_description: In 2008, when the Newseum opened to the public on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., visitors looking over the Avenue could read a historical marker that stated:
  Benjamin Banneker assisted Chief Surveyor Andrew Ellicott in laying out the Avenue based on Pierre L'Enfant's Plan. President George Washington appointed Ellicott and Banneker to survey the boundaries of the new city.
  Little or none of this appears to be correct. Banneker had no documented involvement with the laying out of Pennsylvania Avenue or with L'Enfant's Plan. Andrew Ellicott surveyed the boundaries of the federal district (not the "boundaries of the new city") at the suggestion of Thomas Jefferson. Ellicott (not Washington) appointed Banneker to assist in the boundary survey.
caption: The Newseum in Washington, D.C., in 2008
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