This is the second part of our biweekly series that focuses on black men who changed the world with their inventions.
Thomas L. Jennings:
Thomas 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 a freeman in New York City, New York, in 1791. He went on to become a tailor and open a dry cleaning business. While working as a dry cleaner, He developed dry scouring.
This created a lot of controversies because, ideally, slaves couldn’t own rights to their inventions; however, Thomas was a free man, and so he was able to gain exclusive rights.
Thomas Jennings was very passionate about abolitionist causes, and he used the income from his invention to free the rest of his family from slavery and fund abolitionist causes.
Thomas Jennings died in New York City in 1856.
Elijah McCoy:
Elijah McCoy was born on May 2, 1884, in Colchester, Ontario, Canada, to George and Mildred Goins McCoy.
The McCoys were slaves who had escaped via the Underground Railroad from Kentucky to Canada.
The large family returned to the United States in 1847, settling in Ypsilanti, Michigan. At an early age, Elijah began to show a strong interest in mechanics, and so his parents sent him to Scotland when he was 15 for an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering.
After becoming certified as a mechanical engineer, he returned home to Michigan. Elijah, despite his experiences and qualifications, McCoy was unable to find any work as an engineer in the United States because of the racial barriers as skilled professional positions were not given to African Americans at the time, irrespective of what their training or background was.
McCoy had no choice but to accept a position as a fireman and oiler for the Michigan Central Railroad. He developed his first major inventions on this job. McCoy invented a lubricating cup that distributed oil evenly over the engine’s moving parts after studying the inefficiencies inherent in the existing system of oiling axles.
He obtained a patent for this invention that allowed trains to run continuously without pausing for maintenance for long periods and distances. He continued building and trying to make his products better, and over the course of his life, he received nearly 60 patents.
McCoy died in Detroit, Michigan, on October 10, 1929. He was 85 years old. He is buried at Detroit Memorial Park East in Warren, Michigan.
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