Wonder celebrates 300 years of Black innovation
Benjamin Banneker, inventor of some of the most effective clocks of his time, Washington, D.C. city planner, and publisher of six almanacs. (Congressional Black Caucus)
Beyond just the peanut gallery.
Perhaps the most well known Black inventor (or at least for graduates of the US education system), George Washington Carver is much more than just the "peanut man".
Born into slavery around 1865, the future agricultural chemist's research on peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soy beans for soil restoration is credited with saving the agricultural economy of the rural South.
The "Black Leonardo" (as he was dubbed by TIME Magazine in 1941) once even turned down a six-figure job from Thomas Edison.
After his death in 1943, a monument to the inventor was erected in his hometown of Diamond, Missouri, the first national memorial in the US dedicated to an African American.
Carver is just one of the thousands of Black inventors, scientists, thinkers, and leaders whose contributions to our daily lives have often been overlooked or misattributed.
This week, Wonder investigates the impossibility of today without the impacts of Black innovation.
Benjamin Banneker, inventor of some of the most effective clocks of his time, Washington, D.C. city planner, and publisher of six almanacs. (Congressional Black Caucus)
Strokes of Genius.
While necessity may very well be the mother of invention, lest we forget that capital is the father. The cost of getting a patent, which can run into the thousands of dollars, and a lack of early exposure to the patent system presents barriers to already marginalized communities.
Researchers point to the Supreme Court’s infamous 1857 Dred Scott ruling that Americans of African descent, whether free or enslaved, were not U.S. citizens. The decision essentially precluded Black people from patenting their inventions.
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation found African Americans, while making up 13% of the U.S.’s native-born population, comprised less than 1% of the U.S.-born innovators it surveyed.
Black Americans are 1/3 as likely to become inventors as Whites, Harvard University researchers found in 2018.
Nonetheless, necessity is a trait shared by all Americans regardless of race, and not even systemic roadblocks could stop these inventors from improving the world around them:
Richard Spikes, automatic gear shift– Driving up a steep hill got a whole lot easier in 1932.
Benjamin Banneker, the first US clock – He was a farmer, mathematician, astronomer, land surveyor, and even the subject of a Stevie Wonder song.
Alexander Miles, automatic elevator doors – Miles patented a mechanism in 1887 that triggered the shaft doors to open and close along with the elevator doors, making the ride safer.
George T Sampson, America's first automatic clothes dryer – Patented in 1892, people could now dry their clothes quicker no matter the weather and without having to worry about setting garments on fire.
Garrett Morgan, the gas mask and the three-position traffic signal - Born to former slaves in 1877, Morgan's safety hood saved the lives of countless firefighters and others.
Black innovators are also behind the invention of the mail box, the lawn sprinkler, the lawn mower, the ironing board, the ice cream scooper, the home security system, the folding chair, the dustpan, and even the golf tee.
While very little is known about Osbourn Dorsey, in 1878, he invented the doorknob. Before Dorsey's patent, people used latches to keep doors closed and leather straps as their handles.
In 1784 at just 19 years old, James Hemings was the first American to train as a chef in France. He is attributed with introducing European-style macaroni and cheese, French fries, crème brûlée and ice cream to America.
Nearly 70 years later in 1853, George Crum of Saratoga Spring, NY would adapt Hemings' introduction of the french fry to bring us the potato chip.
Now known as the Murphy bed, Sarah E. Good's invention made her the first Black woman to receive a United States patent in 1885.
Lewis H. Latimer was a patent draftsman and inventor in his own right who worked with Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, and Hiram Maxim. His greatest invention may be the carbon filament for light bulbs, a vital component of the light bulb.
Latimer's filament, U.S. Patent No. 252,386
US Patent Office
Modern Times.
Percy Lavon Julian was a pioneer in "the synthesis and large-scale production of steroids from plant compounds." He synthesized physostigmine in 1923, a substance difficult to reproduce at the time. Julian's steroids, cortisone and birth control pills are still used to this day.
Born in 1954 in Nigeria, Philip Emeagwali went on to study at the University of Michigan where he designed a system that could perform 3.1 billion calculations per second, considered the faster computer in the world at the time. His discovery is a significant part of the development of the internet.
Born in Arkansas in 1943, Emmit J. McHenry founded Network Solutions and is behind the "U.S. government’s first domain name addressing system for the Internet." Essentially, he and Network Solutions invented what is now known as ".com" or the domain registration system.
George Lawson was one of the few Black men working in Silicon Valley in the 70s, where he met and briefly worked with Alcorn, the "father of pong." Lawson was behind Fairchild Channel F, which was the first cartridge-based video game console released for commercial sale, revolutionizing the gaming industry forever.
Lisa Gelobter was deeply involved with the advent of Shockwave, a technology that formed the beginning of web animation (a precursor to the GIF). She also played a major role in the emergence of online video, later serving on the senior management team at Hulu.
Dr. Marian Croak holds over 200 patents in several areas but the majority are in VOIP, where she has received about 100 patents. Her work has helped advance the technology of calling and text messaging on cellular phones and is now one of Google's highest ranking Black executives.
While advancements in the medical and tech space have evolved the way we work and live, Lonnie Johnson is perhaps best known for revolutionizing the way we play. Developing a toy after-hours while working as an engineer for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, his invention of the Super Soaker is one of the most successful toys of all time netting Hasbro about $1 billion in sales.
Lonnie Johnson's Supersoaker, Patent #5,074,437
Source: Smithsonian
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