Black Inventor

Benjamin Banneker
Benjamin Banneker was born on November 9, 1731, just outside of Baltimore, Maryland, in Ellicott's Mills. He was the son of a slave, however, Banneker was a freeman. Banneker's grandmother, Molly Walsh, was an English immigrant and an indentured servant who married an African slave named Banna Ka. That name was later changed to Bannaky. Walsh, after serving her seven years as an indentured servant, bought a small farm, where Banna Ka was a slave. Her daughter (born free) also married a slave. At that time, the law dictated that if your mother was a slave, then you were a slave and if she was a freewomen then you were not a slave. Bannek...