Click on any of the inventors' names to learn more.
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Granville T. Woods -Telegraph and Railroad Innovator  Born in Columbus, Ohio on April 23, 1856, Granville T. Woods was an African American inventor who dedicated his life to developing a variety of improvements relating to the railroad industry. As a child, Woods was able to attend school until the age of ten, at which point he began working in a machine shop repairing railroad equipment and machinery. Naturally curious and intrigued by the electricity which powered the machinery, Woods paid careful attention to all aspects of the machine shop and studied other workers as they attended to various pieces of equipment and tasks. Using his earnings, Woods actually paid his coworkers to sit down with him and explain various electrical concepts to him. Over the next few years, Woods honed his knowledge, moving around the country in order to work on various railroads and in steel rolling mills. This experience helped to prepare Woods for a formal education studying engineering at an Eastern university. After two years of studying, Woods obtained a job as an engineer on a British steamship called the Ironsides. Two years later he obtained employment with D & S Railroads, driving a steam locomotive. Unfortunately, despite his high aptitude and valuable education and expertise, Woods was denied opportunities and promotions because of the color of his skin. Out of frustration and a desire to promote his abilities, Woods, along with his brother Lyates, formed the Woods Railway Telegraph Company in 1884. |
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Otis Frank Boykin -Electronics Innovator  Otis F. Boykin was an American inventor born on August 29, 1920 in Dallas, Texas. After graduating high school, Boykin attended Fisk College in Nashville and graduated in 1941. Boykin's first job was as a laboratory assistant testing automatic aircraft controls. After rising to the position of foreman, he left in 1944 to work as a research engineer at P.J. Nilsen Research Labs in Illinois. Soon thereafter, Boykin decided to try to develop a business of his own and founded Boykin-Fruth, Incorporated. At the same time, he decided to continue his education, pursuing graduate studies at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Illinois. He attended classes in 1946 and 1947 but was forced to drop out because he lacked the funds to pay the next year's tuition. |
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Elijah McCoy - The Real McCoy  Elijah J. McCoy was an Afro-Canadian inventor famous for his many U.S. Patents and railroad innovations. Born in 1843 to fugitive slaves who had escaped to Canada from Kentucky, Elijah McCoy was a member of the Canadian British forces who earned 160 acres from the Canadian government as payment for service to his country.
After his service duty was complete, McCoy traveled to Scotland to study engineering in Edinburgh. Upon returning to his native Canada, McCoy found work as a firemen and oiler at the Michigan Central Railroad. In his home-based machine shop, McCoy invented an automatic lubricator cup for oiling the steam engines of locomotives and boats. It relied on a piston set within an oil-filled container. Steam pressure pushed on the piston and thereby drove the oil into channels that carried it to the engine's operating parts.
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Madame CJ Walker - Innovator of African American Hair Care Products  Born into a family of former slaves in 1867, Sarah Breedlove grew up in a poverty stricken area of rural Louisiana which had served as a battle-staging area during the Civil War. Orphaned at age 7 when her parents died during an epidemic of yellow fever, Sarah along with an older sister moved on to Vicksburg, Mississippi in the wake of their parents death. At age 10 Sarah took work in the cotton fields, as well as a maid for a wealthy Louisiana family. During this time, Sarah endured the emotional struggles of living with her sister and an abusive brother-in-law. To escape her harsh life, Sarah married at the age of fourteen and gave birth to a daughter, Lelia, shortly thereafter. After her husband's death two years later, she traveled to St. Louis to join her four brothers who had established themselves as barbers. Working as a laundry woman, she managed to save enough money to educate her daughter, and became involved in activities with the National Association of Colored Women. |
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