Benjamin Banneker: The Man Who Loved Stars (Reel 1): Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Reel 1 of a two-reel historical film with the title Benjamin Banneker: The Man Who Loved Stars. It consists of a single reel of color 16mm acetate film with optical sound.

The film opens with a young man, Greenbury Morton (Leon Pinkney), and his mother, Molly Morton (Louise Stubbs), discussing their trepidations about their ailing relative, Benjamin Banneker (Ossie Davis), traveling to Baltimore to publish his almanac as they ready a horse carriage. Shortly after, Banneker himself joins them in conversation and the trio set off to Baltimore to print the almanac. Along the ride, Molly, Banneker’s sister, discusses her brother's accomplishments, including making his first clock at twenty-two years old. Banneker also has a few flashbacks and recalls a family of Quakers, The Ellicotts, moving to his county and changing the economic landscape. He also recalls his grandmother's life, a white woman who was punished for spilling a pail of milk but later bought a farm and two enslaved persons, one of which she manumitted and married. This man, Banneker says, was his grandfather. Along the journey, the trio also encounter a few issues. At one point, they are stopped and interrogated by a white man just before Greenbury decides to help a couple who are fleeing slavery in the South.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1981
• Directed by: Bob Walsh
• Subject of: Benjamin Banneker, American, 1731 - 1806
• Directed by: Leroy Morais
• Produced by: Jochen Breitenstein
• Subject of: Ossie Davis, American, 1917 - 2005
• Subject of: Louise Stubbs, American, 1930 - 2001
• Subject of: Leon Pinkney, American, born 1963
• Owned by: D.C. Public Library, American, founded 1896
• Type: sound films
• Type: color films (visual works)
• Type: 16mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: acetate film
• Dimensions: Duration: 28 min.
• Dimensions: Physical extent (film): 1000 ft
• Place used: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: Baltimore, Maryland, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Antislavery
• Topic: Families
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Free communities of color
• Topic: Science
• Topic: Slavery
• Topic: U.S. History, Revolution, 1775-1783
• Object number: 2017.55.7.1a
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Transferred from the DC Public Library
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.