Thomas L. Jennings was the first black man to receive a patent. The patent was awarded on March 3, 1821 (US Patent 3306x) for his discovery of a process called dry-scouring which was the forerunner of today’s modern dry-cleaning. Jennings was born free in New … Read MoreThomas L. Jennings (1791- 1856)
Elijah McCoy, one of the two most prolific black inventors of the 19th Century (the other was Granville T. Woods), was born on May 2, 1843 in Colchester, Ontario, Canada to runaway slave parents who used the Underground Railroad to escape. Once the McCoy family … Read MoreElijah McCoy (1843-1929)
Inventor Lewis H. Latimer was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts on September 4, 1848. His parents were former slaves who escaped bondage and settled in Boston. Abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass secured the necessary funds to obtain their freedom. After a stint in the … Read MoreLewis H. Latimer (1848-1928)
Jan Ernst Matzeliger was born on September 15, 1852 in Suriname (South America), the child of a biracial marriage. His father was a white engineer from Holland and his mother was a black woman in the Dutch colony. By his third birthday Matzeliger was sent … Read MoreJan E. Matzeliger (1852-1887)
Granville T. Woods was a prominent inventor and electrical engineer who developed inventions that were awarded 27 patents by the U.S. Patent Office between 1884 and 1903. Because of his significant electrical inventions he is known as the “Black Edison.” Woods was born on April … Read MoreGranville T. Woods (1856-1910)
