Black Inventors and Inventions

African Americans have been prolific inventors and innovators. We have gathered on this page profiles of some of the most significant Black Inventors in the United State as well as some inventors of African Ancestry abroad. The main tabs show inventors and the dates of their first patents. Other tabs show inventors who did not receive patents and inventors outside the United States. This list will grow. If you think there are inventors who should be on this page please contact us at [email protected].

First Elijah McCoy Patent (US Patent No. 129843) for Improvements in Lubricators for Steam-Engines, July 28, 1872

Pre-Civil War

Thomas L. Jennings (1791- 1856)

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1821
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Henry Blair (1807-1860)

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1834
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Norbert Rillieux (1806-1894)

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1846
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Benjamin Bradley (1830-?)

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1856

1861-1900

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George Franklin Grant (1847-1910)

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Lewis H. Latimer (1848-1928)

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Granville T. Woods (1856-1910)

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Jan E. Matzeliger (1852-1887)

Elijah McCoy|Elijah McCoy

Elijah McCoy (1843-1929)

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George Washington Murray (1853-1926)

Joseph W. Winters (1816-1916)

Drawing of Sarah E. Goode's Cabinet Bed|

Sarah E. Goode (c.1855?-1905)

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Judy W. Reed (ca. 1826-?)

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Hamilton Hatter (1856-1942)

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Alfred L. Cralle (1866–1920)

Alexander Miles (1838-1918)

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John P. Parker (1827-1900)

Charles B. Brooks (1865-?)

Sarah Boone (1832-1904)

William B. Purvis (1838-1914)

Leonard C. Bailey (1825-1918)

Samuel Raymond Scottron (ca. 1843-1905)

John Lee Love (?-1931)

Alexander Ashbourne's biscuit-cutter

Alexander P. Ashbourne (1820-1915)

Lyda Newman in Dress|Lyda Newman|Lyda Newman's Hairbrush (Public Domain)

Lyda Newman (1885- ?)

Ohio counties|Earl Roscoe Lane (Fair Use)

Robert Scott (ca. 1840-~1930)

Great Chicago Fire (public domain)|Daniel McCree Patent Drawing (Public Domain)

Daniel McCree (1800?- ?)

1901-1960

Garrett Morgan| |Patent Drawing for Garrett Morgan’s Traffic Signal

Garrett A. Morgan, Sr. (ca. 1877-1963)

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1901
Henry E. Baker

Henry E. Baker (1857-1928)

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1902
US Patent #0817442,Charles F. Page AirShip Pg1, Fig.1

Charles Frederick Page, Inventor of the Bi-Ballooned Flyable Airship, 1903

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1903
Ben Pelham|

Benjamin Pelham (1862-1948)

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1905
Madeline M. Turner Fruit Press Patent

Madeline M. Turner (? – ?)

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1916
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Frederick McKinley Jones (1893-1961)

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1919

Henry Binga Dismond (1891-1956)

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1919
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William Chester Ruth (1882-1971)

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1924
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David Nelson Crosthwait, Jr. (1898-1976)

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1929
Bessie Blount

Bessie Blount Griffin (1914-2009)

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1951
|Mary Kenner|The Sanitary Belt|Toilet Paper Holder

Mary Kenner (1912-2006)

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1957
Otis Frank Boykin|

Otis Frank Boykin (1920-1982)

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1959

1961-Present

Illustration of Marie Van Brittan Borwn's home security system included in her patent.

Marie Van Brittan Brown (1922-1999)

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1966
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Henry Thomas Sampson (1934-2015)

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1971
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Emmett Chappelle (1925-2019)

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1976
Valerie Thomas

Valerie Thomas (1943- )

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1980
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Mark Dean (1957- )

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1981
Isiah Warner

Isiah Warner (1946- )

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1985
|Lonnie Johnson| |

Lonnie Johnson (1949- )

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1986
Overhead shot of Weatherby smiling while students with open textbooks sit at a desk in the background|Dennis Weatherby with Cascade products

Dennis Weatherby (1959-2007)

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1987
Meredith Gourdine

Meredith C. Gourdine (1929-1998)

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1987
Dr. Patricia Bath|

Patricia Bath (1942-2019)

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1988
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Robert F. Smith (1962- )

Date of First U.S. Patent:

1993
Janet Emerson Bashen

Janet Emerson Bashen (1957- )

Date of First U.S. Patent:

2006
Marian Croak

Marian R. Croak (1955- )

Date of First U.S. Patent:

2006

Inventors Without Patents

|Lewis Temple Statue

Lewis Temple (1800-1854)

Invention Year:

1848
|George Crum and Wife Hester

George Crum (1824-1914)

Invention Year:

1853
The Clothes Wringer

Ellen Eglin (1849- ?)

Invention Year:

1888
Charles W. Chappelle (Morris Brown College)

Charles Chappelle (1872-1941)

Invention Year:

1911
Frederick Patterson with Patterson-Greenfield Automobile

Frederick Douglas Patterson (1871-1932)

Invention Year:

1915
Hildreth Hal Walker

Hildreth “Hal” Walker, Jr. (1933- )

Invention Year:

1969
Kamal Al Mansour

Kamal Al Mansour (1959- )

Invention Year:

1988

Inventors Outside the U.S.

Colton map of Upper Canada (Later Ontario)

William Peyton Hubbard (1842-1935)

Invention Year:

1861

André Rebouças (1838-1898)

Invention Year:

1866 (no patent)
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David Wabeladio Payi (1957-2013)

Invention Year:

1982

African American Scientists and Technicians of the Manhattan Project

1,000 Inspiring Black Scientists in America, Cell Mentor, December 28, 2020

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) People Hidden No More