Mr. Matzeliger, of Massachusetts,
is credited with being the pioneer in the art of attaching soles to shoes by
machinery. Mr. Joseph Lee, of Boston,
is said to have placed his kneading machine in many of the first-class bakeries
and hotels in Boston and New York, from which he received a substantial
royalty.
At that time, Miss Miriam E.
Benjamin, of Massachusetts, was the only African American woman who had
received a patent for an invention. The
principle of her invention, that of a gong signal, was adopted in the United
States House of Representatives in signaling for the pages to attend upon
members who wanted them for errands.
Formerly the pages were signaled by members clapping their hands and the
noise incident to this method that was frequently a great disturbance of the
House proceedings. The new system which
was adopted involved merely the pressing of a button on the member’s chair,
which rang a small gong while displaying a signal on the back of the chair.
Another invention by a young
colored man, which attracted considerable attention, was the rapid-fire gun by
Mr. Eugene Burkins, of Chicago. This
gun was examined by officers of the War and Navy Department, and was pronounced
a valuable contribution to the scientific equipment for military and naval
warfare at that time. The following description of Mr. Burkin’s gun appeared in
Howard’s American Magazine:
“A brief description of the gun is not exactly out of place,
although the Scientific American and other technical journals have long since
given it to the world. It is an
improvement upon all that has yet been done in the way of ordnance and the
principles involved in its construction can be applied to any size of gun, from
a one-inch barker to a thirty-six-inch thunderer. The model as it now stands weighs 475 pounds, measures four
inches at breech, and is constructed of the finest of gun brass at a cost of
$3,500. There is a magazine at the
breech in which a large number of heavy shells can be held in reserve. In the action of the gun these slip down to
their places and are fired at the rate of fourteen a minute, an improvement on
the Maxim gun of four shots. The gun is
elevated upon a revolving turret with electrical connections, enabling the gunner
to direct the action of the machine with a touch of his finger. Firing, reloading and ejection of shells are
all effected by electricity, and a child could conduct the work of manning the
gun as easily as anyone.”
These inventions show how
completely in error were those who constantly asserted that the African
American inventors up to 1900 had made no lasting contribution to the
civilization of the age. By their inventiveness, they proved conclusively that
under favorable environment he was capable of performing his whole duty in the
work of mankind whether it was tilling the earth with his hoe or advancing the
world by his thought, creativity, and his unlimited ability to be resourceful.
Throughout the following years
thousands of African Americans have patented their inventions. The list now includes many life-saving
inventions that have been contributed to world civilization and have played a
dramatic role in every day living, science, and warfare and in advancing
technology. This includes improvements
on inventions that sanitized daily life such as the commode (toilet) that was
invented by T. Elkins. Historical
life-saving inventions and developments in medicine like Dr. Charles Drew’s
blood plasma that has been directly responsible for saving millions of lives;
the heart pace-maker controls invented by Otis Boykin; and Dr. Patricia Bath’s
apparatus for ablating and removing cataract lenses by laserphacoprobe.
In space technology, William
Harwell invented the space shuttle retrieval arm and Adolphus Samms invented
the multi-stage rocket. James S. Adams
invented aeroplane propelling. The
resistor is one of many inventions by Otis Boykin. The torpedo discharger was invented by Henrietta Bradberry, the
home security system with TV monitor was invented by Marie Brown. The motor was invented by J. Gregory, the
defroster, the internal combustible engine and air conditioning units are a few
of the many inventions of Frederick M. Jones.
Garrett Morgan invented the gas mask and traffic control signal. J.F. Pickering invented the air ship
(blimp). The revolutionary automatic
gearshift was invented by R.B. Spikes.
Alexander Miles invented the elevator in 1887. Rufus J. Weaver invented the stair climber wheelchair. In 1962,
the helicopter, which has become an intricate part of warfare and life saving
all over the world, was improved and invented by Paul W. Williams while he was
employed by Lockheed Aircraft. Clarence
Elder invented, designed and developed the occustat, an electronic system that
automatically raises and lowers room temperatures, reducing energy
demands. Meredith Gourdine invented and
developed exhaust purifying systems for cars and a method to remove fog from
airport runways. In 1968 Rufus Stokes received a patent for an air purification
device making air easier to breathe for millions of people. Dr. Donald Cotton invented capillary liquid
fuel nuclear reactors and developed a procedure using microwaves to measure how
solid propellants are burned. Hermon L.
Grimes received a patent in 1938 as the inventor of the Folding Wing Aircraft
that was used in combat for take-off from aircraft carriers during World War
II. This enabled the U.S. Navy to
stock more planes on its aircraft carriers which was a huge advantage over
enemy carriers. This accounted for over
75 percent of the downed enemy aircraft in the Pacific Theatre. In 1989, Lanny
S. Smoot received a patent for inventing the Teleconferencing Facility with
High Resolution Video Display that is used by so many major corporations. In 1971, Henry T. Sampson invented the
popular cellular phone that is in almost constant use in the civilized world
today.
The list of African American
inventors is almost endless. Countless
African Americans continue the rich heritage of their ancestors by exploiting
their legacy of being