1998CRE409A ESTABLISHING A MEMORIAL HONORING BENJAMIN BANNEKER

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Archive-Name: gov/us/fed/congress/record/1998/mar/18/1998CRE409A
[Congressional Record: March 18, 1998 (Extensions)]
[Page E409]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr18mr98-20]

ESTABLISHING A MEMORIAL HONORING BENJAMIN BANNEKER

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HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

of the district of columbia

in the house of representatives

Wednesday, March 18, 1998

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, in commemoration of the life of Benjamin
Banneker and of Black History Month, I am introducing the Benjamin
Banneker Memorial Act of 1998. The residents of the District of
Columbia are direct beneficiaries of Benjamin Banneker's extraordinary
work in helping to design the nation's capital. I am proud to sponsor a
bill to authorize construction of a memorial here in the District to
honor and commemorate Banneker's numerous achievements.
The proposed memorial is a particularly appropriate way to
commemorate Banneker, America's first black man of science. Banneker
was noted for his mathematical and mechanical genius. He was self-
taught, learning astronomy by studying the stars and mathematics by
reading books.
Under the legislation, the Washington Interdependence Council (WIC),
a non-profit organization headed by Peggy Seats, will be authorized to
raise funds for the memorial. Through the determined efforts of Ms.
Seats, WIC has already obtained passage of a resolution by the D.C.
City Council sponsored by Councilmember Jack Evans endorsing its
campaign to establish a Benjamin Banneker memorial. WIC also has
entered into preliminary discussions with the National Parks Service
regarding the possibility of constructing the memorial at Benjamin
Banneker Overlook Park, located near L'Enfant Plaza in southwest, D.C.
WIC intends to conduct a design competition for the memorial.
Banneker's work deserves recognition in a central location of the
nation's capital because of his contribution to all of the citizens of
this country. His life has special meaning for African Americans in
general and for black Americans in the District in particular. In 1791,
Banneker was appointed by Andrew Ellicot to survey and plan the design,
layout, and blueprint the nation's capital. Working from early February
through April, Banneker painstakingly developed calculations for the
survey, using an astronomical clock in an observatory tent.
WIC, and especially Peggy Seats, its energetic leader, deserve the
praise of this body for initiating this ambitious and meritorious
project. Because of the determination Ms. Seats has already
demonstrated, I believe that the Benjamin Banneker Memorial project
will be as successful as the African-American Civil War Memorial I
sponsored here seven years ago, soon to be constructed at 10th and U
Streets, N.W.
I graduated from Banneker, now a high school for gifted and
accelerated students here in the District, when it was a segregated
junior high school. Benjamin Banneker deserves greater recognition here
and across America. I am delighted that Washingtonians led by Ms. Seats
are establishing a memorial to this scientific genius and inventor so
that tourists will have another important and historic sight to learn
from as they visit the nation's capital.

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