Many have attended the Banneker School outside of Middleburg. But how many know its history? In 1791, Thomas Jefferson hired a Black man to help survey Washington, D.C. That man was Benjamin Banneker, an African American mathematician, a writer of almanacs, and one of the greatest astronomers of his generation. Banneker then wrote a famous letter to Jefferson, imploring him to examine his hypocrisy. More than two centuries later, Rachel Jamison Webster, a White woman, learns that this groundbreaking Black genius is also her distant relative.
The close connections between slavery and the production of cotton, tobacco, and sugar cane are widely recognized. Much less well-known, however, is the critical role played by the humble peanut in the perpetuation of slavery and the reach of European colonialism in West Africa. Jori Lewis, a prizewinning agriculture and environment journalist, has skillfully produced a vivid narrative that brings to life some of the key players, both African and European, in a drama neglected by history, until now.
Joseph McGill Jr., a historic preservationist and Civil War reenactor, launched the Slave Dwelling Project in 2010. He’s logged 200 plus nights in slave dwellings at historic sites in 25 states and the District of Columbia. McGill and co-author Herb Frazier tell a number of stories, including one about an enslaved boy who purchased his freedom to then establish a prominent black religious organization. “I’m likely a descendant of enslaved people.,” McGill said. “This story is not mine, it’s theirs.”
