VIRTUAL UNVEILING: The historic “Andrew Ellicott & Benjamin Banneker Surveying the Boundaries of Washington, DC”, painted by William Arthur Smith in 1968, was conserved and will be permanently hung at the Banneker-Douglass Museum. Join us at the unveiling ceremony. This was a live streamed event.

Thank you to the Maryland Governor's Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing for the sign language (ASL) interpretation.

BANNEKER-ELLICOTT MURAL CONSERVATION EFFORT
In 1966, the State Roads Commission, predecessor to the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA), the agency that operates and maintains the State’s toll facilities, contracted with Gladieux Corporation to make decorative improvements to the Maryland House Travel Plaza on I-95 in Aberdeen, Maryland. A Pennsylvania artist – William A. Smith – was commissioned to create several murals for the travel plaza. Each depicted significant individuals and events important to both Maryland and U.S. history, and were installed in the lobby of the Maryland House on April 2, 1968.

On September 16, 2012, the Maryland House Service Plaza was closed to the public to be demolished and rebuilt. William A. Smith’s murals were removed from the walls and underwent conservation in October 2012. The Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture, which operates the Banneker Douglass Museum, advocated for the museum to be chosen as the new home for the mural entitled Andrew Ellicott & Benjamin Banneker Surveying the Boundaries of the District of Columbia. The Board of Public Works approved the transition in 2016, and BDM received the mural, nicknamed the Banneker-Ellicott Mural, in 2017.

Conservation of the Banneker-Ellicott Mural began in October 2021 with framing and installation planned for January 2022. An unveiling celebration is scheduled for February 5, 2022.

The Andrew Ellicott & Benjamin Banneker Surveying the Boundaries of the District of Columbia mural honors two extraordinary historical figures. The mural is dedicated to long-time Washington, D.C. surveyor, Chas Langelan, who respected and admired both Banneker and Ellicott. Langelan emulated them in his own passion for the surveying profession and executed its demands for integrity and accuracy to a high degree.

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