Black Inventors & Their Inventions
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TV ClubHouse: Archives: 2003 February: Black History Month: Black Inventors & Their Inventions

Cyn

Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 07:20 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Garrett Augustus Morgan - the inventor of the gas mask and automatic traffic signal. (1877-1963)

more details found by clicking here

copying the names that i put in the other place into here also -- hope it's ok --

George R. Carruthers - Astophysicist (1939 - ?)

He invented a camera and spectrograph imaging devices which use untrviolet light to capture images of both earth and space from the surface of the moon.

Dr. Charles R. Drew (1904-1950) - Surgeon and Blood Researcher

Dr. Charles R. Drew was a renowned surgeon, teacher, and researcher. He was responsible for founding two of the world's largest blood banks. Because of his research into the storage and shipment of blood plasma—blood without cells—he is credited with saving the lives of hundreds of Britains during World War II. He was director of the first American Red Cross effort to collect and bank blood on a large scale. In 1942, a year after he was made a diplomat of surgery by the American Board of Surgery at Johns Hopkins University, he became the first African American surgeon to serve as an examiner on the board.

Cyn

Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 07:34 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806)
Astronomer, mathematician, surveyor

Invented the almanac and layout and worked on designing the ciry of Washington, D.C.

inventorsmuseum.com
princeton.edu

Cyn

Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 07:41 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Daniel Hale Williams (1858-1931)

credited with the first successful heart surgery

britannica.com

Nanya

Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 08:15 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Elijah McCoy invented a machine oiler to prevent using small children being sent into the bowels of machinery to oil intricate parts. Because black folk were not allowed patents, his oiler was copied many times over. It was determined that none worked as well as the original, hence, the question..."Is it the real McCoy"

Cyn

Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 08:32 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
James Forten (1766-1842)

He invented and perfected a sail designed to make the guiding of ships easier.

bio here

Cyn

Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 08:37 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Frederick McKinley Jones - (1892-1961)

He patented more than sixty inventions, however, he is best known for inventing an automatic refrigeration system for long-haul trucks in 1935 (a roof-mounted cooling device). Jones was the first person to invent a practical, mechanical refrigeration system for trucks and railroad cars, which eliminated the risk of food spoilage during long-distance shipping trips. The system was, in turn, adapted to a variety of other common carriers, including ships. Frederick Jones was issued the patent on July 12, 1940 (#2,303,857). (excerpt)

more details here

Cyn

Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 09:00 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
link to a bigger bio on Dr. Charles Richard Drew

Hippyt

Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 09:12 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Nanya,great info there,the real McCoy!

Cyn

Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 09:48 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
George Washington Carver (1861- 1943)

Agricultural chemist, Carver invented three hundred uses for peanuts and hundreds more uses for soybeans, pecans and sweet potatoes. Countless products we enjoy today come to us by the way of Carver. Only three patents were every issued to him, but among his listed discoveries are: adhesives, axle grease, bleach, buttermilk, chili sauce, fuel briquettes, ink, instant coffee, linoleum, mayonnaise, meat tenderizer, metal polish, paper, plastic, pavement, shaving cream, shoe polish, synthetic rubber, talcum powder and wood stain.

details here at Iowa State U where he was a student

Cyn

Wednesday, February 05, 2003 - 06:15 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Benjamin Montgomery (1819-1877)

Invented - Steamboat Propellor

Benjamin Montgomery's life is amazing. This is a quick read page to get the outline of it.

Please click here.

Heyltslori

Wednesday, February 05, 2003 - 12:30 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Bessie Blount.

Bessie was a physical therapist who worked with soldiers injured in W.W.II. Bessie Blount's war service inspired her to patent a device, in 1951, that allowed amputees to feed themselves. The electrical device allowed a tube to deliver one mouthful of food at a time to a patient in a wheelchair or in a bed whenever he or she bit down on the tube. She later invented a portable receptacle support that was a simpler and smaller version of the same, designed to be worn around a patient's neck.

Bessie J. (Griffin) Blount was born in Hickory, Virginia in 1914. She moved from Virginia to New Jersey where she studied to be a physical therapist at the Panzar College of Physical Education and at Union Junior College and then furthered her training as a physical therapist in Chicago.

In 1951, Bessie Blount started teaching Physical Therapy at the Bronx Hospital in New York. She was unable to successfully market her valuable inventions and found no support from United States Veteran's Administration, so she gave the patent rights to the French government in 1952. The French government put the device to good use helping to make life better for many war vets.

"a black woman can invent something for the benefit of humankind" - Bessie Blount

Cyn

Wednesday, February 05, 2003 - 12:33 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Lewis Howard Latimer (1848-1928)

Patents Issued: Process of manufacturing carbons, Apparatus for cooling and disinfecting, Locking rack for hats, coats, and umbrellas, Lamp fixture, Latimer, Lewis Howard and Nichols, Joseph V. Electric lamp, Latimer, Lewis Howard and Tregoning, John Globe supporter for electric lamps

small bio at princton.edu
this pg has more bio & art
this is a good kids page

Cyn

Wednesday, February 05, 2003 - 03:14 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Jan Ernest Matzeliger (1852-1889)

Invented machine that completely changed the way that shoes were/are made.

click here for details on his life and inventions.

Cyn

Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 01:58 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Patricia Bath, M.D...

invented apparatus for ablating & removing cataract lenses - patented it on May 17,1988.

"Enabling the blind to see is the greatest joy of Dr. Patricia Bath, eye surgeon, professor of ophthalmology, inventor of the Laserphaco Probe for the treatment of cataracts, and founder of the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness. An independent thinker, she has been a trailblazer for women and African Americans in the medical profession, being the first to attain many of the highest academic honors and appointments in her field." excerpted from the link below.

great link that talks about her accomplishements

Cyn

Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 02:26 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Method and apparatus for ablating and removing cataract lenses, issued 12/01/98, Pat. No. 5,843,071. This was a further advancement of the first patent.

Laser apparatus for surgery of cataractous lenses, issued 07/06/99, Pat. No. 5,919,186.

Pulsed ultrasound method for fragmenting/emulsifying and removing cataractous lenses, issued 07/04/00, Pat. No. 6,083,192.

These are other US patents of Dr. Bath's that I forgot to include with the above listing of her accomplishments.