Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806). Benjamin Banneker was a celebrated African American mathematician, astronomer, inventor, and scientist.
Impressed with his abilities, Thomas Jefferson recommended Banneker to serve on the three-man commission that, in 1791, surveyed a carved-out 100 square mile area ceded by Maryland and Virginia. The team would define the boundaries of Washington City in the Territory of Columbia, the nation’s new Seat of Federal Government, as stipulated by the U.S. Constitution the previous year.
After a year’s work, however, George Washington’s own choice as lead architect, Pierre L’Enfant, was fired or lost his temper and quit, in either case taking the detailed plans with him. Over the following two days, Banneker rescued the project by relying on his prodigious memory to replicate a complete layout of L’Enfant’s drawings.
Today, Washington, DC’s landscaping, its streets, parks, National Mall, and major buildings, can together be considered a monument to Banneker’s as well as L’Enfant’s genius.