African American Inventors

Do you love your light bulbs, peanut butter, pacemakers, and traffic signals? These are things that most of us use every day, and it seems as though we cannot survive without them. Would it surprise you to discover that all of those were invented by African Americans?

Lewis Latimer, (1848-1928) the son of escaped slaves, did not actually invent the first light bulb, but he did invent the carbon filament that makes the light bulb possible. He also had a hand in the invention of the telephone. Not only did Latimer draft the patent drawings for Alexander Graham Bell's telephone, but he won the patent rights for Bell. He was also a poet, engineer, philanthropist, and family man. He was married to Mary Wilson, and they had two daughters, Jeanette and Louise.

George Washington Carver (1860-1943) was the man that discovered 300 ways to use peanuts. Thanks to this great mind, we have one of the most popular foods in the world today, peanut butter. Carver was the first black student to be admitted to Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, and he later transferred to Iowa Agricultural College in order to study science. He earned his Bachelor of Science there and later earned a Master's degree in bacterial botany and agriculture. Carver eventually found his way to Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute for Negroes where he developed a crop rotation method that changed the way crops were planted in the south. He also developed hundreds of uses for sweet potatoes, soybeans, pecans, and the before mentioned peanuts. Carver loved his work and his country. He turned down other job offers that would have made him a very rich man. He did not even patent any of his inventions or ideas saying, "God gave them to me. How can I sell them to someone else?"

Otis Boykin (1929-1982) invented the control unit for the pacemaker. Thanks to him, there are thousands of people the world over who are alive because of this invention. He also invented an inexpensive resistor (a device that slows an electrical current) that has been used in computers, televisions, and many other electrical devices.

Garret Morgan, (1877-1963) the son of former slaves, is the reason we have safety on the roads today. HE did not invent the first traffic signal, but he was the first to apply for and receive a U.S. patent for an inexpensive traffic signal. The signal had three positions: Stop, Go, and All Stop. It was manually operated and it was used until it was replaced by the modern traffic signals that are used today. Morgan also invented the gas mask in 1914. This invention came in handy during World War I where it no doubt saved countless lives.

History is full of great Africans and African Americans. Truth be told, our world would not be the same without them. There are countless more inventors who broke down racial barriers with their great inventions and, as a result, made a better life for people all over the world.