We are rounding out our Black History Month series with a list of inventions, patents, and creative solutions that we still use today that were created by Black Americans. This listing is not comprehensive and it includes inventions that solved significant problems and also two that bring tremendous joy!
- Garrett Morgan – the traffic light to include the yellow “warning light” (1922)
- Alexander Miles – automatic elevator doors (1887)
- Mary Van Brittan Brown – home security systems, complete with cameras, microphones, and automatic latching (1996)
- Frederick Jones – mobile refrigeration and subsequently use by the USA military for storing blood, medicine and food for field hospitals (1939)
- Charles Drew – blood banking (1939)
- Alfred Cralle – the ice cream scoop! (1897)
- Lonnie Johnson – the Super Soaker Water Gun (1990)
As this special month of recognition comes to a close, we recommend taking a few moment to search for other revolutionary inventions by African Americans. Not only can you learn about the inventor themselves, but also the circumstances that led to the invention which are often fascinating stories of determination, skill, and tenacity.
I Dream a World
I dream a world where man
No other man will scorn,
Where love will bless the earth
And peace its paths adorn
I dream a world where all
Will know sweet freedom’s way,
Where greed no longer saps the soul
Nor avarice blights our day.
A world I dream where black or white,
Whatever race you be,
Will share the bounties of the earth
And every man is free,
Where wretchedness will hang its head
And joy, like a pearl,
Attends the needs of all mankind-
Of such I dream, my world!– Langston Hughes