<I>Benjamin Banneker: The Man Who Loved Stars (Reel 1) </I>
date: label: Date
content: 1981
name: label: Directed by
content: Bob Walsh
label: Subject of
content: Benjamin Banneker, American, 1731 - 1806
label: Directed by
content: Leroy Morais
label: Produced by
content: Jochen Breitenstein
label: Subject of
content: Ossie Davis, American, 1917 - 2005
label: Subject of
content: Louise Stubbs, American, 1930 - 2001
label: Subject of
content: Leon Pinkney, American, born 1963
label: Owned by
content: D.C. Public Library, American, founded 1896
notes: label: Caption
content: This film was a part of the Washington D.C. Public Library's circulating 16mm film collection housed at the Martin Luther King Jr. Central Library. The collection is particularly noted for the wide variety of African American and African diaspora content.
label: Description
content: Reel 1 of a two-reel historical film with the title Benjamin Banneker: The Man Who Loved Stars. It consists of a single reel of color 16mm acetate film with optical sound.
label: Description
content: The film opens with a young man, Greenbury Morton (Leon Pinkney), and his mother, Molly Morton (Louise Stubbs), discussing their trepidations about their ailing relative, Benjamin Banneker (Ossie Davis), traveling to Baltimore to publish his almanac as they ready a horse carriage. Shortly after, Banneker himself joins them in conversation and the trio set off to Baltimore to print the almanac. Along the ride, Molly, Banneker’s sister, discusses her brother's accomplishments, including making his first clock at twenty-two years old. Banneker also has a few flashbacks and recalls a family of Quakers, The Ellicotts, moving to his county and changing the economic landscape. He also recalls his grandmother's life, a white woman who was punished for spilling a pail of milk but later bought a farm and two enslaved persons, one of which she manumitted and married. This man, Banneker says, was his grandfather. Along the journey, the trio also encounter a few issues. At one point, they are stopped and interrogated by a white man just before Greenbury decides to help a couple who are fleeing slavery in the South.
place: label: Place used
content: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
label: Place depicted
content: Baltimore, Maryland, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Antislavery
label: Topic
content: Families
label: Topic
content: Film
label: Topic
content: Free communities of color
label: Topic
content: Science
label: Topic
content: Slavery
label: Topic
content: U.S. History, Revolution, 1775-1783
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Collection title
content: DC Public Library Film Collection
label: Classification
content: Time-based Media - Moving Images
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Transferred from the DC Public Library
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2017.55.7.1a
objectType: label: Type
content: sound films
label: Type
content: color films (visual works)
label: Type
content: 16mm (photographic film size)
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: acetate film
label: Dimensions
content: Duration: 28 min.
label: Dimensions
content: Physical extent (film): 1000 ft