Kiss Szilvia-va American intellectual history 2nd of February, 2010

African American Inventors and Scientists

After the Civil

ar and !econstruction "eriod, the #nited States entered and era of ra$id

industrial and technolo%ical develo$ment& 'he foundations of %reat national economic %ro(th (ere established bet(een 1)*0 and 1+00& African Americans $layed an im$ortant $art in this develo$ment& 'he history of these inventors and scientists is one of the untold heroic stories of achievements a%ainst the odds& these unsun% heroes of American economic and industrial %reatness, bac-%rounds, hat im$act did their inventions have on America and the (orld, ashin%ton Carver, the izard ho (ere hat (ere their

.any Americans are familiar (ith the scientific (or- of /eor%e 100 by-$roducts of several industries&

of 'us-e%ee 0nstitute, (hose discoveries of various uses of the $eanut and s(eet $otato led to

George Washington Carver (18641943) All Americans o(e an enormous debt to an e2traordinary African American scientist /eor%e ashin%ton Carver, (ho (as born a slave in 3iamond /rove, .issouri& 4e survived a very difficult childhood& 4is father (as accidentally -illed and his mother (as abducted by slave raiders& hen he (as a youn% boy, /eor%e (as once traded for a horse& 0n s$ite of these ashin%ton Carver overcame these obstacles and obtained a %ood education hardshi$s, /eor%e

at Sim$son Colle%e in 0o(a (here he (as the first African American student& 4e com$leted his under%raduate colle%e education at 0o(a State Colle%e and obtained a .asters of Science de%ree in A%riculture and 5otany concentratin% on biolo%y, chemistry, %eometry and zoolo%y& After /eor%e ashin%ton Carver com$leted his studies, he devoted his life to teachin% at

'us-e%ee 0nstitute in Alabama and to research $ro6ects desi%ned to im$rove southern a%riculture& 0n fact, his research on the $eanut, s(eet $otato and soybean hel$ed to revolutionize the economy of the South and liberate it from e2cessive de$endence on cotton $lantin%& 4is devotion to research and hel$in% others (as le%endary& 4is commitment to selflessly aidin% humanity (as so real he rarely $atented any of his many discoveries& 4e believed his abilities (ere a %ift of /od& 4e said, 7/od %ave them to me, ho( can 0 sell them to someone else,7

Granvi e !" Woods (18#6191$) 8ther African American inventors and scientists (ere not as (ell -no(n as /eor%e ashin%ton

Carver but their contributions (ere nevertheless im$ortant and a benefit to all Americans& 8ne %reat inventor (as /ranville '& called the 75lac- <dison&7 4e (as a contem$orary of Ale2ander /raham 5ell =1)>*?1+22@ and 'homas <dison =1)>*? 1+11@ (ho are household (ords in America& 4is name has been for%otten but his %enius unloc-ed many secrets of nature and hel$ed to ma-e electricity a better servant of human-ind& /ranville '& 8hio& oodsA inventions have had an enormous im$act on our modern life& At the a%e of oods (ho (as described in 1))9 as 7'he e:ual, if not

su$erior, to any inventor in the country&7 4e (as born A$ril 21, 1);9, in Columbus, 8hio, and

ten /ranville became an a$$rentice in a combination blac-smith and machine sho$ in Columbus, hen he (as 19 years old he (ent to (or- on the railroads and traveled (est& 4is interest in ener%y sources for the railroads must have been furthered by this e2$erience because trains in those days (ere run by steam en%ines& 4is later inventions (ould hel$ develo$ the trans$ortation industry (ith his automatic electric air bra-e and electric controls for the elevated railroad in .anhattan& 4is multi$le2 tele%ra$h or induction tele%ra$h im$roved railroad safety and communications and reduced accidents& After (or-in% in a S$rin%field, 0llinois steel mill in 1)*> he finally traveled to Be( Cor- to further his schoolin% and (or- e2$erience& hile in Be( Cor-, /ranville oods had the o$$ortunity to set sail and travel around the (orld includin% Australia in a 5ritish steamliner, the Ironside& 4e (or-ed in the en%ine room (here he had a chance to observe, study and re$air another machine& Dyates& ith this e2$erience under his belt, oods (as $re$ared to start his o(n business enter$rise& 0n 1))0 he o$ened a machine sho$ in Cincinnati, 8hio (ith his brother

After four years of stru%%le to -ee$ a 5lac--o(ned and o$erated machine sho$ o$en, /ranville oodsA hard (or- and faith $aid off (hen he (as %ranted his first #nited States $atent on Eanuary 1, 1))> for an im$roved steam boiler furnace& 'his (as the first of many #&S& $atents he received& 4e $atented over 90 inventions& .any of them (ere $urchased by com$anies such as estin%house& 'homas <dison offered /ranville oods a $artnershi$ but he turned it do(n because he $referred to remain inde$endent& 0n 1+01 he sold his 7third rail7 invention for sub(ay systems to the /eneral <lectric Com$any& 'his 7hidden contributor7 (as truly an unsun% %enius& .any of the African American achievers and contributors not only reflect their o(n $ersonal inte%rity and stren%th, they also reveal the ca$abilities and stron% ties evident in the 5lacfamily& 'oo often the stren%th of the slave and free African American family has been overloo-ed because of the nature of slavery and racism& Fre:uently, the im$act of the family is not fully a$$reciated because of the focus on the nuclear biolo%ical family as o$$osed to the e2tended communal family& 'his e2tended communal family tradition has its roots in the African value system as it ad6usted to the cultural conte2t of America& 0t is the source of African American institution-buildin% and individual achievement&

%e&is %atimer (184819'8) 8ne e2cellent e2am$le of the African American achievers in science is De(is Datimer& 4is father, /eor%e, (as as e2-slave (ho esca$ed slavery in 1)11 and fled to 5oston& <leven years later in 1)>2, his former o(ner a$$eared and tried to ta-e him bac- into slavery but many members of the 5oston community rallied on his behalf and raised the F>00 necessary to buy his freedom& 5lac- abolitionists and of the $ublic& 'he son, De(is, settled in Chelsea near 5oston but (hen the Civil ar bro-e out he 6oined the hites, such as Dloyd /arrison raised the moral consciousness

navy& 4is brother fou%ht in the Army& After the (ar, De(is Datimer became a draftsman and handled the tele$hone $atent for Ale2ander /raham 5ell& 4is first $atent (as %ranted in 1)*1 (hen he invented a (ater closet for railroad cars& 0n 1))0 he (or-ed for the inventor and industrialist 4iram .a2im in the #&S& <lectric Di%htin% Com$any and the follo(in% year he

received $atents for an im$roved carbon filament (hich eventually aided 'homas <dison in his (or- on the incandescent li%ht bulb& Datimer 6oined <dison and used his e2$ertise to (rite one of the first boo-s on li%htin% cities in America and <n%land& 4e also hel$ed <dison (in several crucial le%al battles over $atents& Dater he became a foundin% member of the <dison "ioneers&

(an )at*e iger (18#'1889) Another 5lac- inventor (ho had a $ermanent im$act on American industrial develo$ment (as Ean .atzeli%er& 4e invented the shoe lastin% machine that revolutionized the American shoe industry& 4is lastin% machine solved the $roblem of mechanizin% shoe $roduction and a com$le2 cor$orate structure %re( around his invention& 4is family had its roots in South American and mi%rated to the #nited States and settled in 5oston and eventually moved to Dynn, .assachusetts& .any others before him had failed to $roduce an effective machine& Finally in 1))1 .atzeli%er built a lastin% machine that could du$licate all of the com$le2 o$erations $reviously carried out by s-illed craftsmen& Dastin% is the $rocess of attachin% the u$$er leather $ortion of the shoe to the inner sole& Bot only did Ean .atzeli%erAs lastin% machine (or-, it transformed the shoe industry in the #nited States and the orld& <ventually throu%h mer%es of com$anies, the financial bac-ers of .atzeli%er built a %iant cor$orate structure reor%anized into the #nited Shoe .achinery Com$any that became the lar%est in the (orld& 'he invention of this youn% 5lac- emi%rant from South America hel$ed America develo$ a mono$oly in this industry for ;0 years&

+r" +anie ,a e Wi iams (18#9-1931)

An African American named 3r& 3aniel 4ale

illiams (as a $ioneer in o$en heart sur%ery& 4e

(as born in 4olisbur%, "ennsylvania in 1);9& Althou%h his father died (hen youn% 3aniel (as only eleven years old, he constantly remembered (hat he often saidG 7 e colored $eo$le must cultivate the mind&7 4e (or-ed hard and became an a$$rentice in the office of a medical doctor& After t(o years of $ractical trainin%, he became a(are of the $roblems of discrimination faced by African American nurses and doctors (ho could not $ractice at all-(hite hos$itals& 4is solution to this $roblem of discrimination (as to or%anize and establish his o(n hos$ital and trainin% school o$en to all citizens& As a result of a$$eals to the African American community, he (as able to o$en the first interracial hos$ital in the #nited States& 'he ne( institution (as o$ened in Eanuary 1)+1 in Chica%o and (as called "rovident 4os$ital& 0t started as a small 12-bed hos$ital and %re( into a medical facility (ith more than 9; beds& 0n 1)+1, 3r& 3aniel 4ale illiams a%ain made history (hen he $erformed the first successful

o$en-heart sur%ery at "rovident 4os$ital& 0t (as a darin% o$eration because it (as the first time a sur%eon had successfully entered the chest cavity and o$erated on the heart& 'he $atient, Eames Cornish, recovered and sho(ed no si%ns of infection& 4e lived for another fifty years and died in 1+>1, t(elve years after the death of 3r& medical facilities& 3urin% 1)+>, 3r& illiams (as a$$ointed chief sur%eon at FreedmenAs hos$ital in ar and had 200 beds& 3r& ashin%ton illiams illiams& 4is $recedent settin% heart o$eration (as even more remar-able (hen one considers that he did not have the advanta%es of modern

3&C& 'his famous hos$ital (as established after the Civil

hel$ed reor%anize this medical center and contributed to its im$ortance in African American history& 4e develo$ed a national re$utation as an e2cellent sur%eon and medical administrator& 'oday o$en-heart sur%ery has become routine& 0n 1)+1, this ty$e of com$licated sur%ery (as too difficult to attem$t and bound to fail because of the $roblem of infection& 3r& 3aniel 4ale illiams used the latest methods of sterilizin% to control infection and (ith his s-ill as a medical doctor became a $ioneer in the field of medicine and one of AmericaAs %reatest sur%eons&

African American Inventors and Scientists 5y orld ar 0, African Americans had left a $ermanent mar- on the scientific, technolo%ical hile the masses of African Americans (ere

and industrial develo$ment of the #nited States&

$art of the hard(or-in% labor forces in a%riculture and industry, members of the 7talented tenth7 (ere hard at (or- creatin% inventions that hel$ed transform America into an industrial %iant& Bot enou%h is -no(n about these creative and in%enious individuals (ho achieved their success a%ainst enormous obstacles& 'he symbol of this African American achievement in science and technolo%y is 3r& /eor%e ashin%ton Carver, (hose (or- in a%ricultural science revolutionized farmin% in the South and rescued the re%ion from its de$endency on one cro$Hcotton& 5ut 3r& Carver (as not aloneI there (ere many others (ho made ma6or scientific contributions to this nationAs technolo%ical develo$ment& 3urin% slavery, Borbert !illieu2 invented a vacuum eva$orator for turnin% cane 6uice into (hite su%ar crystals and revolutionized the $rocessin% of su%ar cane in the #nited States, the Caribbean and Datin America& 'he history of their lives and (hat they achieved is an ins$iration to all America& 'hey (ere $art of a talented %ro(in% %rou$ of African Americans (ho had received as many as one thousand $atents for their inventions by $atents are officially re%istered (ith the #nited States "atent 8ffice in orld ar 0& 'hese ashin%ton 3&C& and

re$resent inventions in almost every field of industry& Some of the inventions of these African American scientists and en%ineers have had such tremendous im$act on American develo$ment that they have transformed (hole industries&

or-s consultedG htt$GJJ(((&africa(ithin&com htt$GJJ(((&enchantedlearnin%&comJhistoryJusJaframerJbiosJ