African American Engineers and Inventors

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.


Home/ NSBE/ A.E./ Executive Board/ Members/ Calendar of Events/ NSBE History/ Black Inventors/ Kansas City
Top of page