African American Inventors

Many items that we take for granted on a daily basis were invented by African Americans. From household items to industrial tools, many African American inventors have received little credit for their outstanding strides in the advancement of every day life.

A.P. Abourne

Refining of coconut oil.

July 27, 1980

A. B. Blackburn

Spring seat for chairs. Patent# 380,420

April 3, 1888

A.C. Richardson

Casket-Lowering Device. Patent# 529,311

November 13, 1894

A.C. Richardson

Churn. Patent # 466,470

February 17, 1891

A.E. Long and A.A. Jones-- 

Caps For Bottles And Jars 

1898 

A.L. Lewis 

Window Cleaner 

1892 

A.L. Rickman 

Galoshes 

1898 

Anna M. Mangin

Pastry fork

March 1, 1892

Alexander P. Ashbourne 

Biscuit Cutter 

November, 1875 

Alexander Miles 

Elevator  and also safety device for elevators. Patent No. 371,207 

October11, 1887 

Alfred L. Cralle 

Ice Cream Scooper. Patent # 576,395 

February 2,1897 

Alice Parker 

Heating Furnace 

1918 

Andrew Beard 

Automatic Car Coupling Device 

1897 

Augustus Jackson 

Ice cream 

1832 

B. F. Cargill

Invalid cot. Patent# 629,658

July 25, 1899

B.F. Jackson 

Gas Burner 

 

Benjamin Banneker 

Clock, Prints for Wash. DC 1st Almanac 

 

Bessie V. Griffin 

Portable Receptacle 

1951 

C.B. Brook 

Street Sweeper 

1896 

C.V. Richey

Fire Escape Bracket. Patent # 596,427

December 28, 1897

C. W. Allen

Self Leveling table. Patent # 613,436

November 1, 1898

D. McCree

Portable Fire Escape. Patent # 440,322

November 11, 1890

Darryl Thomas 

Cattle Roping  Apparatus 

 

Dr. Charles Drew 

Invented Blood Banks And Established Them Around The World 

1940 

Dr. Daniel Hale Williams 

Performed First Open Heart Surgery 

1893 

Edmond Berger 

Spark Plug 

 

Elbert R. Robinson 

Electric Railway  Trolley 

 

Ellen Elgin 

Clothes Wringer 

1880s 

Elijah Mccoy 

Automatic Lubrication System (For Railroad And Heavy Machinery) 1892 

 July 2, 1872 

Folarin Sosan 

Package-Park (Solves Package Delivery Dilemma)   www.maita.com

1997 

Frederick Jones

Ticket Dispensing Machine. Patent # 2163754

June 27, 1939

Frederick Jones

Starter Generator. Patent # 2475842

July 12, 1949

Frederick Jones

Two-Cycle gasoline Engine. Patent # 2523273

November 28, 1950

Frederick Jones 

Air Condition. Patent # 2475841 

July 12, 1949 

Frederick Jones 

Portable X-Ray Machine 

 

G.W. Murray

Cultivator and Marker. Patent # 517,961

April 10, 1894

G.W. Murray

Combined Furrow Opener and Stalk-Knocker. Patent # 517,960

April 10, 1894

G.W. Murray

Fertilizer Distributor. Patent# 520,889

June 5, 1894

G.W. Murray

Cotton Chopper. Patent # 520,888

June 5, 1894

G.W. Murray

Planter.  Patent # 520,887

June 5, 1894

G. F. Grant 

Golf Tee. Patent # 638,920 

December 12, 1899 

G.T. Sampson 

Clothes Drier 

1892 

G.W. Kelley 

Steam Table 

1897 

Garret A. Morgan 

Gas Mask (Saved Many Lives During WWI) 

1914 

George Alcorn

Fabrication of spectrometer. Patent # 4,618,380

October 21, 1986

George Tolivar

Ship's propeller

 

George Washington Carver 

Peanut Butter 

1900 

George Washington Carver 

300 products from peanuts, 118 products from the sweet potato and 75 from the pecan. 

1900-1943 

Garret A. Morgan 

Automatic Traffic Signal 

1923 

Gertrude E. Downing and
William Desjardin 

Corner Cleaner Attachment. 
Patent # 3,715,772 

February 13, 1973

Granville Woods 

Telephone (His Telephone Was Far Superior To Alexander Graham Bell's) 

 Dec. 2,1884 

Granville Woods 

Trolley Car 

1888 

Granville Woods 

Multiplex Telegraph System (Allowed Messages To Be Sent And Received From Moving Trains) 

1887 

Granville Woods 

Railway Air Brakes (The First Safe Method Of Stopping Trains) 1903 

 

Granville Woods 

Steam Boiler/Radiator 

1884 

Granville Woods-- 

Third Rail (Subway) 

 

H. Grenon

Razor Stropping Device. Patent # 554,867

February 18, 1896

H.H. Reynolds

Window Ventilator for Railroad Cars.
Patent No.275,271

April 3, 1883

H.A. Jackson 

Kitchen Table 

 

Henry Blair 

Mechanical Seed Planter 

1830 

Henry Blair 

Mechanical Corn Harvester 

 

Henry Single

Patented an Improved Fish Hook. He sold it later for $625.

1854

Henry Sampson 

Cellular Phone 

July 6th, 1971 

I.O. Carter 

Nursery  Chair 

1960 

Issac R. Johnson 

Bicycle Frame 

 

J. A. Joyce

Ore Bucket. Patent # 603,143

April 26, 1898

J. Hawkins

Patented the Gridiron

March 3, 1845

J. Gregory 

Motor 

 

J.A. Sweeting 

Cigarette Roller 

1897 

J.B. Winters 

Fire Escape Ladder 

 

J. H. Hunter

Portable Weighing Scales. Patent # 570,533

November 3, 1896

J.F. Pickering 

Air Ship 

1892 

J. H. Robinson

Lifesaving guards for Street Cars. Patent# 623,929

April 25, 1899

J. Robinson

Dinner Pail. Patent# 356,852 

February 1, 1887

J. W. Reed

Dough Kneader and Roller. Patents# 304,552

September 2, 1884

J. Ross

Bailing Press. Patent # 632,539

Sept 05, 1899

J.H. White 

Convertible Sette (A Large Sofa) 

1892 

J.H. White 

Lemon Squeezer 

1896 

J.L. Love 

Pencil Sharpener. Patent # 594,114 

23 November 1897 

J.S. Smith 

Lawn Sprinkler. Patent # 581,785 

May 4, 1897 

James Forten 

Sailing Apparatus 

1850 

James S. Adams 

Airplane Propelling 

 

Jan Matzelinger 

Automatic Shoe Making Machine 

1883 

Joan Clark 

Medicine Tray 

1987 

John A. Johnson 

Wrench 

 

John Burr 

Lawn Mower 

 

John Parker

"Parker Pulverizer" Follower-Screw for Tobacco Presses. Patent# 304,552

September 2, 1884

John Standard 

Refrigerator. Patent# 304,552

Jul 14,1894 

Joseph Gammel 

Supercharge System for Internal Combustion Engine 

 

Joseph N. Jackson 

Programmable Remote Control 

 

L.C. Bailey 

Folding Bed 

1899 

L. Bell

Locomotive smoke stack. Patent# 115,153

May 23, 1871

L. F. Brown

Bridle bit. Patent # 484,994

October 25, 1892

L.S. Burridge And N.R. Marsham 

Typewriter 

1885 

Lewis Howard Latimer 

Light Bulb Filament 

 

Lewis Temple 

Toggle Harpoon (Revolutionized The Whaling Industry) 

1848 

Lloyd A. Hall 

Chemical compound to preserve meat 

 

Lloyd P. Ray 

Dust Pan 

 

Lydia Holmes

Wood Toys. Patent # 2,529,692

November 14, 1950

Lydia O. Newman 

Hair brush 

 

M.C. Harney 

Lantern/Lamp 

Aug.19,  1884 

Madam. C. Walker 

Hair Care Products 

 1905 

Majorie Joyner

Permanent hair wave machine. Patent  # 1693515

November 27, 1928

Madeline M. Turner 

The Fruit Press 

1916 

Marie V. Brittan Brown 

Security System. Patent # 3,482,037 

 December 2, 1969

Manley West

Discovered compound in canibis to cure glaucoma.

1980-1987

Norbett Rillieux 

Sugar Refining System 

1846 

O.B. Clare

Rail Tresle. Patent# 390,753

October 9, 1888

O. E. Brown 

Horse Shoe 

8/23/1892 

Onesimus 

Small Pox Inoculation (He Brought This Method From Africa Where Advance Medical Practices Were In Use Long Before Europeans Had Any Medical Knowledge) 

1721 

Otis F. Boykin 

Wire Type Precision Resistor. 
Patent # U.S. 2,891,227

 June 16, 1959

Paul E  Williams 

Helicopter 

 

Peter Walker 

Machine for Cleaning Seed Cotton 

 

Phillip Downing 

Letter Drop Mailbox. Patent # 462,096 

October 27, 1891 

Philip Emeagwali

 Accurate Weather Forecasting 

1990 

Philip Emeagwali

Hyperball Computer 

April 1996 

Philip Emeagwali

Improved Petroleum Recovery 

1990 

Philip Emeagwali

World's Fastest Computer 

1989 

R.A. Butler

Train alarm.  Patent #157,370

June 15, 1897

R.P. Scott 

Corn Silker 

1894 

Richard Spikes 

Automatic Gear Shift 

 

Robert Flemming Jr. 

Guitar 

March 3, 1886 

S. H. Love

Improvement to military guns. Patent # 1301143.

22 April 1919

S. H. Love

Improve Vending Machine. Patent # 1936515

November 21, 1933

Sara E. Goode 

Cabinet Bed 

1885 

Rufus Stokes Patent #3,378,241 

Exhaust Purifier 

April 16, 1968 

Sarah Boone 

Ironing Board 

April 26, 1892 

T. Elkins 

Toilet 

1897 

T. J. Byrd

Rail car coupling . Patent# 157,370

December 1, 1874

Thomas Carrington 

Range Oven 

1876 

Thomas J.Martin

Patented the Fire Extinguisher

March 26, 1872

Thomas W. Stewart 

Mop 

1893 

Virgie M. Ammons

Fireplace Damper Actuating Tool. Patent # 3,908,633

September 30, 1975

W. A. Lovette 

The Advance Printing Press 

 

W. F. Burr

Railway Switching device . Patent # 636,197

Oct.31,1899

W. H. Ballow

Combined hatrack and table. Patent # 601,422

March 29, 1898

W.S. Campbell

Self-setting animal trap. Patent# 246,369

August 30, 1881

W. Johnson 

Egg Beater 

1884 

W.B. Purvis 

The Fountain Pen Patent# 419,065

Jan 7,1890  

W.D. Davis 

Riding Saddles 

 October 6, 1895

W.H. Sammons 

Hot Comb 

1920 

W.S. Grant 

Curtain Rod Support 

1896 

William Barry 

Postmarking and Canceling machine 

 

Wm. Harwell 

Attachment for shuttle arm; device used to capture satellites 

 
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