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AFRICAN AMERICAN
ENGINEERS AND INVENTORS
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BENJAMIN BANNEKER
Referred to as “ the first Negro Man of Science”,
Benjamin Banneker was born on November 9, 1731
in Baltimore County, Maryland. He was a mathematician and
astronomer. In 1761, he created the first wooden clock in America.
Banneker was appointed to a team headed by Pierre L’
Enfant to help lay out the design of the capital. When L’ Enfant was dismissed from the project, he took all of the plans with
him. Banneker was able to recreate the plans from memory. Banneker is probably
best known for his almanacs. He published at least six almanacs in which he
listed tides, astronomical information, eclipses, medicines and medical
treatments. Benjamin Banneker died on October 26, 1806.
OTIS BOYKIN
Otis Boykin attended Fisk
University and Illinois
Institute of Technology (1946-47). He is responsible for inventing the
electrical device used in all guided missiles and IBM computers, plus 26 other
electronic devices including a control unit for an artificial heart stimulator
(pacemaker). He began his career as a laboratory assistant testing automatic
controls for aircraft. One of Boykin's first achievements was a type of
resistor used in computers, radios, television sets, and a variety of
electronic devices. Some of his other inventions included a variable resistor
used in guided missles, small component thick-film resistors for computers. The
innovations in resistor design reduced the cost of producing electronic
controls for radio and television, for both military and commercial
applications. Other inventions by Otis Boykin also included a burglar-proof
cash register and chemical air filter. He worked as a private consultant for
several American firms and three Paris
firms, from 1964 to 1982. Ironically, Otis Boykin, who invented a device to
stimulate heart action, died in Chicago,
Illinois of heart failure in
1982.
ANNIE EASLEY
Annie Easly is a mathematician from Cleveland
State University.
Her achievements include the developed and implemented computer code used in
determining solar, wind, and energy projects for NASA. She also has completed
studies of the life use of storage batteries, such as those used in electric
utility vehicles. She has made contributions through her computer application
designs that are presently being used to identify energy conversion systems
that offer the improvement over commercially available technologies. Her past
employments include the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Lewis Research
Center and its
predecessor agency (NACA). She has made contributions to several NASA Papers
such as: Performance and Operational Economics Estimates for a Coal
Gasification Combined-Cycle Cogeneration Powerplant"; "Bleed Cycle;
Propellant Pumping in a Gas-Core Nuclear Rocket Engine System"; and "
Effect of Turbulent Mixing on Average Fuel Temperatures in a Gas-Core Nuclear
Rocket Engine".
CLARENCE L. ELDER
Clarence L. Elder was born in Georgia
in 1935. He graduated from Morgan State College. Clarence L. Elder is the head
of his own research and development firm in Baltimore, Maryland
(Elder Systems Incorporated). In 1976, Clarence Elder was awarded a patent for
a monitoring and energy conservation control system. Called an Occustat, the
control system is designed to reduce energy use in temporarily vacant homes and
buildings, especially useful for hotels and school rooms. The energy control
system consists of a series of energy units linked by electronic beam aimed
across the building entrance. The system monitors the incoming and outgoing
traffic in order to gauge occupancy of the structure. When the building or room
is empty of people, the beam sets the Occustat system into motion, reducing
heat and light demand and can boast energy savings up to 30 per cent. The
research and development firm owned by Elder and his associates have also
developed other systems and devices that have received twelve U.S. and
foreign patents, trademarks, and copyrights.
FREDRICK JONES
Frederick M. Jones was born in Cincinnati,
Ohio on May 17, 1892. he worked
as a garage mechanic after serving in World War I. With his experience as a
mechanic he developed a self-starting gasoline motor. His mastery of electronic
devices was largely self-taught, through work experience and the inventing
process. He designed a series of devices for the movie industry. These devices
enabled silent movie projectors to use talking movie stock. He also developed
an apparatus that delivers tickets and returns change to customers at movie box
offices. Jones was granted more than 40 patents in the field of refrigeration.
He invented the first automatic refrigeration system for long-haul trucks. This
system was adapted to a variety of other common carriers, including ships and
railway cars. The invention eliminated the problem of food spoilage during long
shipping times. The ability to provide fresh produce across the United States
during the middle of summer or winter changed the American consumer's eating
habits. Frederick Jones also developed an air-conditioning unit for military
field hospitals and a refrigerator for military field kitchens. Frederick Jones
received a total of over 60 patents in his career. He died on February 21,
1961.
PERCY JULIAN
World-renowned chemist Dr. Percy Julian was born on April 11, 1899 in Montgomery, Alabama.
Dr. Julian is best known for producing chemicals in the laboratory previously
only available from nature. His research yielded over 100 patents, including
cortisone, a glaucoma treatment and two synthetic hormones (testosterone and
progesterone). Dr. Julian also isolated a protein that became the basis for a
fire-fighting solution in World War II. Dr. Julian received numerous honorary
degrees and academic and civic citations. In 1993, a stamp was designed in his
honor for the Black Heritage Series. Dr. Percy Julian died on April 19, 1975 in
Chicago, Illinois.
ELIJAH MCCOY
African American engineer and inventor, Elijah McCoy, was born May 2, 1844 in Colchester, Ontario,
Canada. He is
most famous for his differnet inventions relating principally to automatic
lubricators for machinery. His invention, the automatic lubricating cup, would
spawn the fraise the “real McCoy”. McCoy was born the son of former slaves who had fled from Kentucky before the U.S.
Civil War. Educated in Scotland
as a mechanical engineer, McCoy returned to the United
States to live in Detroit,
Michigan. While living in Michigan, Morgan began
experimenting with a cup that would regulate oil flow onto moving parts of
industrial machines. This led to his first invention a lubricator for steam
engines. Mc Coy’s invention prolonged the life and reliability of steam engines. The
invention also, allowed other types of machines to remain in motion while being
oiled. Morgan’s new oiling device revolutionized the industrial machine industry. McCoy went
on to establish his own firm and was responsible for more than 50 patents. The
term "real McCoy" refers to the oiling device used for industrial
machinery. His contribution to the lubricating device became so popular that
people inspecting new equipment would ask if the device contained the “real
McCoy”. This helped popularize the
American expression, meaning the real thing. His other inventions included an
ironing board and lawn sprinkler. Elijah McCoy died at the age of 85 on October
10, 1929 after a year in the Eloise Infirmary located in Michigan, suffering from senile dementia
caused by hypertension.
AUGUSTUS MORGAN
African American inventor, Garrett Augustus Morgan, was born March 4, 1877 in Paris, Kentucky.
His two most famous inventions were the three-way automatic traffic stop sight
and the gas mask, which was originally called a safety hood. As a teen, Morris
began working at the age of 14 after six years of schooling. Through several
years of working in manufacturing, he developed an interest in mechanics and an
astute knowledge of business. With his lerarnings and inventions, Morgan
started many business enterprises. He also published the Cleveland Call, a
weekly newspaper devoted to news about the African American community. The gas
mask, which was invented by Morgan in 1912, was used by American soldiers
during World War I to protect them from chlorine gas fumes. Also, firefighters
around the country in the early 1900's wore the gas mask while fighting fires. Morgan
was recognized in 1914 for the invention by the International Exposition of
Safety and Sanitation Department of New York by awarding him with a gold medal.
In 1923, Morgan received a patent for his other famous invention, the traffic
signal. The GO and STOP signs were used to regulate pedestrian and vehicle
traffic on city streets by raising and lowering the signs at intersections.
Later, Morgan sold his invention to the General Electric Company for $40,000.
The stop light, with minor improvements, still controls traffic in the United States
today. Morgan went on to receive a U.S. government citation for the
traffic signal. Morgan died at the age of 86 on August 27, 1963.
GRANVILLE WOODS
Born in Columbus, Ohio in April 23, 1856, Woods attended
school only to the age of 10. He began developing his skills through a
machinist and blacksmith apprenticeship in a machine shop. He also went to
night school and took private lessons. These allowed Woods to develop the
critical skills and abilities he used to express his creativity with machinery.
He worked his way up from fireman to engineer on the Danville
and Southern railroad in Missouri.
During the same period he taught himself electronics. Woods later worked in a
rolling mill and a machine shop. He also took a mechanical engineering course
in an eastern college. He became an engineer aboard a British steamer, and,
within two years, he became Chief Engineer of the steamer. Even with this
background and all his engineering skill he was unable to get anywhere in these
jobs. Woods moved to Cincinnati,
Ohio and eventually established
his own machine shop. He and his brother Lyates, organized the Woods Electrical
Company in Cincinnati.
Woods was a great electrician and an inventive genius. He patented over
thirty-five electrical and mechanical inventions. He invented fifteen
appliances for electric railways. He received his first patent in 1884 on an
improved steam boiler furnace. He succeeded in selling many of his inventions
to some of the country's largest corporations. American Bell Telephone Company
bought many of his ideas, as did General Electric and the Westinghouse Air
Brake Company. In 1888 Granville Woods developed and patented a system for
overhead electric conducting lines for railroads, which aided in the
development of the overhead railroad system found in contemporary metropolitan
cities, such as Chicago, St.
Louis, and New York City.
In his early thirties, he became interested in thermal power and steam-driven
engines. And, in 1889, he filed his first patent for an improved steam-boiler
furnace. In 1892, a complete Electric railway System was operated at Coney Island, NY.
The railway system had no exposed wires, secondary batteries, or slotted
causeway -- all previously necessary for electric railways. In 1887 he patented
the Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph, which allowed communications
between trains and between train stations from moving trains. This invention
made train movements quicker and prevented countless accidents and collisions.
Woods also invented an electric incubator that was the predecessor to current
machines that incubate 50,000 eggs at one time. He patented a series of
advances in the development of air brakes. Other inventions dealt with air
brake design. He died in New York City
on January 30, 1910.
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