Patent application image for a Corn and Planting Machine invented by Henry Blair

Men and Women Inventors on the Page

Benjamin Banneker

Elijah McCoy

George Washington Carver

Granville Woods

Judy W. Reed

Sarah E. Goode

Madame C J Walker

George F. Grant

African American Technological Contributions: Past, Present and Future from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) discusses the following Black inventors, among others  

• Thomas L. Jennings

• Henry Blair

• Norbert Rillieux 

• Garrett Morgan

• Jan Matzeliger

The Black Inventors Who Elevated the United States: Reassessing the Golden Age of Invention, Brookings (November 23, 2020)

• With 50,000 total patents, Black people accounted for more inventions during the period 1870 to 1940 than immigrants from every country except England and Germany

What Color is My World? The Lost History of African American Inventors, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar & Raymond Obstfeld (2013)

Black Inventors from Engines of Our Ingenuity, University of Houston

14 Famous African American Inventors from Scholastic

• Includes Alexander Miles, Lewis Latimer, George Washington Carver, Madame C J Walker

African American Inventors I, National Geographic (January 2011)

In Celebration of Black History from United States Patent and Trademark Office

• Thomas L. Jennings was the first African American man to receive a patent for dry-cleaning process (1821)
• A Tribute to America's First African American Patent HolderA Tribute to America's First African American Patent Holder

Benjamin Banneker

Benjamin Banneker's Almanac, 1795

Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806) from Brookhaven National Laboratory

Benjamin Banneker Was Born, November 9, 1731 from America's Story, Library of Congress


Benjamin Banneker's Almanac, PBS Africans in America


His Story: A Man of Many Firsts, from the Administrators of the Benjamin Banneker Memorial


Elijah McCoy

Elijah McCoy

Elijah McCoy

The First Patent of Elijah McCoy, a Turn-of-the-Century Black Inventor

Improvement in Lubricators for Steam-Engines (1872) was Elijah McCoy's first patent




George Washington Carver

Carver National Monument

George Washington Carver from State Historical Society of Missouri

George Washington Carver from National Peanut Board. Dr. Carver researched more than 300 uses of peanuts


George Washington Carver Coloring and Activity Book, U. S. Department of Agriculture

Granville T. Woods

Granville T. Woods from African Americans in the Science, University of California Irvine


Granville T. Woods, Ohio History Central


Granville T. Woods from Brooklyn Historic Railway Association

Woods invented the third rail for electric railroad cars

 African American Women Inventors

• Judy W. Reed was the first African American woman to receive a patent for a machine kneading and rolling dough (1884)

Sarah Elisabeth Goode (1855- 1905)

Second Page of Patent for Sarah E. Goode Cabinet Bed

• Believed to be the first African American woman to receive a patent (July 14, 1885) for a folding cabinet bed

Inventor Profiles: Sarah E. Goode and Garret Morgan, from Berkshire Museum

Sarah E. Goode from Clara Barton Museum

Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy in Chicago

Madame C.J. Walker (1867–1919)

• A child of slaves, she worked washing peoples laundry in order to make ends meet.

• She had very little money and due to the conditions she started loosing her hair. 

• She invented a series of hair and beauty products for herself and other black women as a result.

• Her products were extremely popular which lead her business to grow exponentially.

• This growth made her very rich, in fact she is regarded as the first female self millionaire (not african-american female but female in general!) 

• She was also very well known for being an activist and philanthropist.

• She used her wealth and prominence to aid her in these suffrage movements. 

This Image is of one of her most popular products, hair grower. 

Below is a trailer for a Netflix mini-series based on her life:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYDJvnDfB2w

George F. Grant

How Dr. George F. Grant Went from a Dentist to Golf Tee Inventor