Black Inventors

"The Real McCoy
Elijah J. McCoy - 1843-1929

His life
His invention was dubbed "The Real McCoy" by manufacturers who refused to accept imitation models; the phrase is still used today. He held 57 patents.

Achievements
Developed technique for lubricating machinery while in use, which drastically reduced time and labor costs

African-American Patent Holders
An extensive list of most historical black inventors holding patents, listed by name, patent date and invention with in-depth biographical and technical information on many black inventors and the inventions.

Benjamin Banneker
His inventive spirit would lead him to be called the "first African American inventor", Banneker invented the first Farmers' Almanac.

Andrew Jackson Beard
On November 27, 1897, Beard received a patent for a device he called the Jenny Coupler.

Miriam E. Benjamin
Ms. Benjamin was the second black woman to receive a patent. She received a patent for an invention she called 'a Gong and Signal Chair for Hotels.'

Henry Blair
Henry Blair was the second black inventor issued a patent by the United States Patent Office.

Bessie Blount
Blount invented a device to help disabled persons eat.

Sarah Boone
The ironing board (U.S. Patent #473,653) was invented by African-American Sarah Boone on December 30, 1887.

Otis Boykin
Boykin invented the 'Electrical Resistor' used in computers, radios, television sets and a variety of electronic devices.

Charles Brooks
C. B. Brooks invented the first street sweeper truck and was issued a patent on March 17, 1896.

Henry Brown
Brown patented a 'receptacle for storing and preserving papers' on November 2, 1886, which developed into what is now known as the bank safety deposit box.

George Washington Carver
Carver invented peanut butter, adhesives, bleach, chili sauce, ink, instant coffee, linoleum, mayonnaise, paper, plastic, pavement, shaving cream, talcum powder and more.

George Carruthers
Carruthers was the inventor of the far-ultraviolet camera and the spectrograph.

Emmett W. Chappelle
Chappelle was a biochemist, photobiologist, astrochemist and inventor.

John B. Christian
John B. Christian invented and patented new lubricants used in high flying aircraft and NASA space missions.

David Crosthwait
Crosthwait holds 39 patents for heating systems and temperature regulating devices. He is most well known for creating the heating system for New York City's famous Radio City Music Hall.

Mark Dean
Dean co-invented improvements in computer architecture that allowed IBM compatible PCs to use the same peripheral devices.

Dr. Charles Richard Drew
Drew was the first person to develop the blood bank.

Philip Emeagwali
In 1989, Emeagwali won the Gordon Bell Prize, considered the equivalent of the Nobel Prize, for developing the fastest supercomputer software in the world.

Sarah E. Goode
Sarah Goode was the first African-American women to recieve a patent (US #322,177), which was issued on 7/14/1885. She invented a type of cabinet bed.

Meredith C. Gourdine
Gourdine was the inventor of electrogasdynamics systems.

Lloyd Augustus Hall
Lloyd Hall is responsible for the meat curing products, seasonings, emulsions, bakery products, antioxidants, protein hydrolysates and many other products that keep our food fresh and flavorable.

Thomas L. Jennings
Thomas L. Jennings was the first African American to receive a patent (US patent3306x), which was issued on March 3rd, 1821.

Lonnie Johnson
Johnson invented the Super Soaker® a squirt gun and also invented thermodynamics systems on the side.

Frederick Jones
Jones invented the first automatic refrigeration system for long-haul trucks.

Marjorie Stewart Joyner
Joyner invented a permanent wave machine that would allow a hairdo to stay set for days.

Percy Lavon Julian
Julian synthesized the medicines physostigmine for glaucoma and cortisone for rheumatoid arthritis and invented fire-extinguishing equipment.

Lewis Howard Latimer
Latimer invented the water closet for railroad cars, an electric lamp with an inexpensive carbon filament and a threaded wooden socket for light bulbs.

John Lee Love
The "Love Sharpener" was designed by John Lee Love. Love's invention is the very simple and portable pencil sharpener that many artists use today.

Jan Ernst Matzeliger
Matzeliger invented an automatic method for lasting shoes, which made the mass production of affordable shoes possible.

Elijah McCoy
McCoy is best known for having invented the automatic oil cup. During his life, he invented and sold 57 different kinds of devices and machine parts including an ironing board and a lawn sprinkler. His first invention was a lubricator for steam engines ( US #129,843), which was issued on July 12th, 1872.

Garrett A. Morgan
Morgan invented the gas mask and the automatic traffic signal.

Norbert Rillieux
Rillieux invented the sugar processing evaporator.

Madame Walker
Madame Walker was a St. Louis washerwoman turned entrepreneur, who in 1905 invented a method to soften and smooth African-American hair.

Granville T. Woods
Woods invented improvements to electric railways, air brakes, telephones and telegraphs; a chicken egg incubator and an apparatus for an amusement park ride.

LINKS TO OTHER INFORMATION

Colors of Innovation - African-American Innovators
Many familiar black inventors are discussed on this page, along with a surprising amount of unfamiliar names.

The Black Inventor
Many prominent inventors are discussed in detail in this online museum of black inventor history.

Faces of Science: African Americans in the Sciences
Faces allows you to research scientists and inventors of color from the past and present, using the large alphabetical index. The articles have depth of information and an electronic conference resource is available.

Invention Table
The table lets you click on an invention's name that will then take the reader to the correct page of the African-American Inventor Series, where your selection will be in alphabetical order with similar items.

The Black Inventor Timeline
The timeline tells who invented what, and when.

Black Inventors & Their Inventions
A table of black inventors and what each invented, there is a special section for black women inventors.

African-American Inventors Database
This list puts all other lists of this type to shame. No one is left out of this huge database of names.

African American Women Inventors: Historical
This is a graph table listing the timeline, patent number, invention and inventor.

Women & Minorities In Science & Engineering
A directory with great links to information about women and minorities in science and engineering. Included topics are organizations, profiles and grants.

African-American Inventors Of Our Times
Several inventors are discussed in this Invention Dimension article.

African-American Women Inventors of the Early 20th Century
Socially significant personal care items invented by African-American female inventors are discussed in this Invention Dimension article.

African-American Inventors of the Late 19th Century
Practical inventions for everyday use from the late 19th century are discussed in this article.

Black Facts
This is a great place to search for all kinds of facts about black history.

Black History Month
Annually, february is 'Black History Month', which was originally established as 'Negro History Week' in 1926, by the noted African-American scholar Dr. Carter G. Woodson. The week became the month of February in 1976.

Historical African American Inventors
An article from 'The Faces of Science' with the focus on patents excerpts, where the original patents can be viewed.

Blacks in Technology: Past and Present
Five inventors are profiled in this article; Granville T. Woods, Lewis H. Latimer, Elijah McCoy, Garrett Morgan, Frederick Jones and Jan Ernst Matzeliger.

Historic Contributions of Black Scientists and Engineers
This article is from Black Contributors to Science and Energy Technology written by the US Department of Energy

Freep/Black History Inventors
This article is from the Detroit Free Press and has shorts blurbs on different black inventors including; Dr. Charles Richard Drew (blood bank), Percy Julian (fire-fighting foam), Garrett Morgan (traffic signal) and more.

Great African Americans You Should Know
From the Black Collegian Online, this article highlights several noteworthy African-American inventors.

Black History
Black History discusses the politics of rewriting history and why black inventors have not been recognized.

Today In Black History
You can lookup any date and find out what happened in black history for that day.

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