Benjamin Banneker
1731 – 1806
American

Polymath and scientist. He was born the child of a free black mother and a slave father, was selected by Thomas Jefferson to help survey the District of Columbia, and later became widely known as a scientist. His story conclusively proved the intellectual potential of freed slaves.

Contemporaries
1801–1877Brigham Young
1732–1799George Washington
1793–1880Lucretia Mott
1781–1849William Miller
1755–1835John Marshall
1736–1784Ann Lee
1805–1879Angelina Grimke
1792–1873Sarah Grimke
1805–1879William Garrison
1706–1790Benjamin Franklin
fl. c. 1703–c. 1758Jonathan Edwards
1800–1891George Bancroft
1771–1852Hosea Ballou