Black inventors who changed our lives

Fight for Civil Rights
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Ten Entrepreneurs Who
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Black Business and Economic Power (Rochester Studies in African History and the Diaspora) (Hardcover)
by Toyin Falola

BY Trudy Simpson, Joel Campbell and Aisha Lewis2

From water guns to the blood bank, black inventors have shaped the world, saving millions of lives and revolutionising industries and professions with the aim of making the world a better place. Below The Voice highlights some of them.

Benjamin Banneker – scientific genius seen as US’ first black great inventor

Banneker, who lived from 1731 to 1806, is seen as the US first great black inventor. His achievements include making the US’ first clock and for consulting on and skilfully reproducing, from memory, the plans for the layout of streets, buildings and monuments that exist to this day in the US capital, Washington D.C.

Dr. Percy Julian – cortisone finder and fire extinguisher foam developer

Percy Julian synthesized physostigmine for treatment of glaucoma and cortisone for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Percy Julian is also noted for a fire extinguishing foam for gasoline and oil fires.

Dr. Charles Richard Drew - The first blood bank

Dr. Drew was the first person to develop the blood bank. He helped save millions of lives and revolutionised the medical profession by developing and introducing a system for the storing of blood plasma.

Lewis Howard Latimer- carbon filaments for longer lasting light bulbs and improvements covering areas from electricity to the lift

Latimer was a pioneer in the development of the electric light bulb, developing and patenting the process for manufacturing the carbon filaments, which helped light bulbs last longer. Latimer is also known for the first water closet or for railroad cars; a forerunner of the air conditioner; a locking rack for hats, coats, umbrellas and a book support.

Sarah Goode- cabinet bed

Sarah Goode was the first African American women to receive a U.S. patent. Patent 322,177 was issued on July 14, 1885 for a cabinet bed. Sarah Goode was the owner of a Chicago furniture store.

Madame Sarah Walker aka Madame CJ Walker – black hair products pioneer and female entrepreneur

Walker, who developed her skill while trying to stop her own hair from falling out, was a black hair products pioneer and one of the first black female entrepreneurs, selling products that ranged from hair conditioners and facial creams to hot combs. She and her husband, Charles Joseph Walker, set up a hair care manufacturing business in 1906, which grew successfully even after the couple divorced. She also helped train women to sell her products door-to-door. She had more than a 1000 sales agents by 1910 and by 1914, she was worth more than one million dollars.

Marjorie Joyner – permanent wave hair device

An employee of Madame Walker’s empire, Joyner, invented a permanent wave machine, which curled or "permed" women’s hair. White and black women loved the device for allowing them to have longer-lasting wavy hairstyles.

Granville T. Woods – train to station communication device

Granville T. Woods invented more than a dozen devices to improve electric railway cars and for controlling the flow of electricity. His most noted invention was a system for letting the engineer of a train know how close his train was to others, which helped cut down accidents and collisions between trains.

Emmett W. Chappelle – bacteria detection techniques

Chappelle, a scientist and engineer, was granted 14 U.S. patents. He pioneered the development of the ingredients ubiquitously in all cellular material. Later, he developed techniques that are still widely used for the detection of bacteria in urine, blood, spinal fluids, drinking water and foods.

David Crosthwait – heating systems and vacuum pumps

David Crosthwait was an engineering genius best known for his design of and holding 30 US patents and 89 International patents covering heating systems, vacuum pumps, refrigeration methods and processes and temperature regulating devices.

George Washington Carver – peanuts uses

Carver, an American scientist, educator, humanitarian, and former slave, discovered 300 uses for peanuts and hundreds more uses for soybeans, pecans and sweet potatoes.

Elijah McCoy – oil lubricator cup

Elijah McCoy, a mechanical engineer and inventor who held 57 patents, is best known invention for industrial inventions such a cup that fed lubricating oil to machine bearings through a small bore tube.

Garrett Morgan – the gas mask and traffic signal

Morgan, an inventor and businessman, first patented a traffic signal and invented the gas mask, which he called the Morgan safety hood and smoke protector in 1914. On July 25, 1916, Garrett Morgan made national news when he and volunteers used his gas mask to rescue 32 men trapped during an explosion in an underground tunnel 250 feet beneath Lake Erie.

Patricia Bath- blindness treatments pioneer

Bath developed several theories and surgical tools to treat conditions such as cataracts that can lead to blindness. Among them is a device called the "Laserphaco Probe", which could increase the accuracy of cataract surgery while reduce the discomfort.

Sarah Boone- the first ironing board

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As early as 1892, she recognised the importance of an iron board and applied for a patent for a device that could help to neatly iron clothes on April 26, 1892.

Otis F. Boykin – the control to the pacemaker and small resistors

Boykin’s most famous invention is a control unit for the pacemaker. It used electrical impulses to stimulate the heart and create a steady heartbeat. He also created inventions such as resistors used in computers and guided missile systems and a chemical air filter.

Charles Brooks – the street sweeper

He developed and patented the street sweeper on March 17, 1896.

Henry Brown – the safety deposit or strong box

Brown patented his receptacle for storing and preserving papers on November 2, 1886.

Dr. George Carruthers – ultraviolet spectrograph

The Astrophysicist was the principle inventor of the Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph, the first moon-based space observatory. Apollo 16 astronauts in 1972 carried the ultraviolet camera to the moon, positioned it on the moon's surface and allowed researchers to examine the Earth's atmosphere for concentrations of pollutants. It allowed him to find proof of molecular hydrogen in interstellar space.

Philip B. Downing – the mailbox

Downing invented the street letter drop mailbox with a hinged door that closed to protect the mail (patented 1891).

Lonnie G. Johnson- the super soaker water gun

The former US Air Force and NASA scientist, has more than 40 patents. He discovered the water gun idea in 1982 when he was doing a pressure experiment at home and used water instead of air, namely Freon.

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