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1855–1905. Inventor. Folding "cabinet-bed", forerunner of the Murphy bed; first African-American woman to receive a patent in the United States. [81] [82] [83] Grant, George F. 1846–1910. Dentist, professor. The first African-American professor at Harvard, Boston dentist, and inventor of a wooden golf tee .
Cralle, A. L. Selected Invention (s): – Ice-Cream Mold (Date: February 2, 1897, Patent No: 576395) Additional information: Alfred L. Cralle was a Black American inventor and businessman. He is ...
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Sep 23, 2021 · Tailoring was a relatively easy craft for African-Americans to enter, whether male or female. Thomas L. Jennings (1791–1859), for example, learned tailoring and dry cleaning and carried on that business in New York City, where in 1821, at the age of 30, he received a patent for an improvement in dry cleaning processes — perhaps the first black person in this country to have received one ...
- Mary Bellis
- Madame C.J. Walker (December 23, 1867–May 25, 1919) Born Sarah Breedlove, Madame C.J. Walker became the first Black woman millionaire by inventing a line of cosmetics and hair products aimed at Black consumers in the first decades of the 20th century.
- George Washington Carver (1861–January 5, 1943) George Washington Carver became one of the leading agronomists of his time, pioneering numerous uses for peanuts, soybeans, and sweet potatoes.
- Lonnie Johnson (Born October 6, 1949) Inventor Lonnie Johnson holds more than 80 U.S. patents, but it's his invention of the Super Soaker toy that is perhaps his most endearing claim to fame.
- George Edward Alcorn Jr. (Born March 22, 1940) is a physicist whose work in the aerospace industry helped revolutionize astrophysics and semiconductor manufacturing.
- Improved Ironing Board, Invented by Sarah Boone in 1892
- Home Security System, co-invented by Marie Van Brittan Brown in 1966
- The Three-Light Traffic Signal, Invented by Garrett Morgan in 1923
- Refrigerated Trucks, Invented by Frederick Mckinley Jones in 1940
- Automatic Elevator Doors, Invented by Alexander Miles in 1887
- Electret Microphone, co-invented by James E. West in 1964
- Carbon Light Bulb Filament, Invented by Lewis Latimer in 1881
The ironing board is a product that’s used possibly just as much as it’s overlooked. In the late 19th century, it was improved upon by Sarah Boone, an African American woman who was born enslaved. One of the first Black women in U.S. history to receive a patent, she expanded upon the original ironing board, which was essentially a horizontal wooden...
Before security systems became a fixture in homes, an African American nurse Marie Van Brittan Brown, devised an early security unit for her own home. She spent many nights at home alone in Queens, New York while her husband was away, and felt unsafe with high rates of crime in her neighborhood. On top of that, the police were unreliable and unresp...
With only an elementary school education, Black inventor (and son of an enslaved parent), Garrett Morgancame up with several significant inventions, including an improved sewing machine and the gas mask. However, one of Morgan's most influential inventions was the improved traffic light. Morgan's was one of the first three-light systems that were i...
If your refrigerator has any produce from your local grocery store, then you can credit African American inventor Frederick McKinley Jones. Jones took out more than 60 patents throughout his life, including a patent for the roof-mounted cooling system that was used to refrigerate goods on trucks during extended transportation in the mid-1930s. He r...
The use of elevators in everyday life keeps people from facing long climbs up several flights of stairs. However, before the creation of elevator doors that close automatically, riding a lift was both complicated and risky. Before automatic doors, people had to manually shut both the shaft and elevator doors before riding. Forgetting to do so led t...
Even for those who aren’t quick to pick up the mic during karaoke, microphones are used every day to communicate over distances far and wide. And the vast majority of microphones used today, including the microphones used in phones and cameras, use a microphone co-invented by a Black man. Dr. James E. Westwas tasked with creating a more sensitive a...
The light bulb itself was perfected by Thomas Edison, but the innovation used to create longer-lasting light bulbs with a carbon filament came from African American inventor Lewis Latimer. Latimer, the son of formerly enslaved people, began work in a patent law firm after serving in the military for the Union during the Civil War. He was recognized...
Mar 26, 2022 · 1, 2, 3. Martin Luther King Jr., who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his non-violent campaign for civil rights for African-Americans, summarized the drive and strong will of African ...
Feb 22, 2023 · Jim West. Jim West invented the electret microphone in 1962, a high-performing, low-cost technology that is used in ninety percent of today’s microphones. A leader in acoustic science, West holds more than 250 US and foreign patents and is a strong proponent of equality and mentorship in STEM. The Lemelson Foundation believes impact inventors ...
