Originators, Not Imitators: The Genius of Black Inventors

Shanita Bigelow |

Imagine an America, a world without potato chips or ironing boards, dust pans, refrigerators and automatic breaks. Imagine your life without a TV or radio, without your laptop or PC. The genius of black invention lies in innovation and perseverance, in searching for solutions to shared problems. But Black inventors represent more than patents and products. For more than 300 years, they have represented possibility. Even in a time when [blacks] were held back, said Stacyann P. Russell, National Chair of the National Society of Black Engineers, they were inventing thingsnecessary for our quality of life today, she said.

Jan E. Matzeliger (1852-1889) was one of those inventors. He laid the foundation of the shoe industry in the United States and made Lynn, Massachusetts the shoe capital of the world.

When Matzeliger moved to Massachusetts in 1876, he spoke little English, had little money and didnt know many people. Before Matzeliger, hundreds of inventors and thousands of dollars had been spent in an effort to make a complete shoe by machinery, according to Inventors.org.

Inventors before him developed crude shoe making machines but the final problem of shaping the upper leather over the last and attaching this leather to the bottom of the shoe had so-called Hand-lasters, perplexed. Matzeliger heard of the problem For ten years he worked, steadily and patiently, with no encouragement. But finally, on March 20, 1883, he received a patent (no. 274,207) for his Lasting Machine, which revolutionized the capabilities of mass shoemaking.

Matzeligers machine could turn out from 150 to 700 pairs of shoes a day versus an expert hand-lasters fifty.

Russell, who works with the NSBE Juniors, which includes groups of students spanning grades three through twelve from low-income communities, is aware of the many challenges they face and hopes to show them that there are no limitations on what they can achieve. When you see someone going through what you think is impossiblethey prove it is possible, she said.

Patricia Bath (b. 1942) of Harlem, N.Y, is another example of a person surpassing societal expectations and limitations. Bath came from humbled but inspired beginnings. Her parents encouraged her interest in the world and in science, and after only two and a half years in high school, she graduated. In 1959, during her short high school career, she was selected to participate in a program sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) where she worked on cancer research. She went on to Hunter College in New York and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1964. Later, she went on to Howard Universitys medical school and graduated with honors. She is most known for her work in devising, [a] safer, faster andmore accurate approach to cataracts surgery, according to BlackInventor.com.

People like Matzeliger and Bath, like Otis Boykin(1920-1982) whos interest in the burgeoning field of electronics led the way for the electrical resistors used in radios, computers, TVs and most notably, pacemakers, are examples of what happens when individuals test the limits of what is believed possible.

Boykin was a graduate of Fisk University. After graduating he secured a job as a laboratory assistant in Chicago, testing automatic aircraft controls, according to Associated Content. He then worked as a research engineer at the P.J. Nilsen Research Labs in Illinois. Boykin chose to continue his studies at the Illinois Institute of Technology, but could not afford tuition after two years. Despite this setback, he continued to work on his inventions: 28 electronic devices, most importantly, the pacemaker.

Mark Dean (b. 1957), another pivotal engineer, is an IBM Fellow and Vice President of Technical Strategy & WW Operations for IBM Research. Today, he leads a life of learning. After graduating from the University of Tennessee, he began working as an engineer for IBM and continued his education while pursuing his career.

In his capacity as an engineer for IBM, he didnt take long to make a big impact, serving as the chief engineer for the team that developed the IBM PC/ AT, the original home/office computer, according to BlackInventors.com. Dean would own three of the original nine patents that all PCs are based upon.

With over 29 years of experience at IBM, Dean is now responsible for the direction of IBMs Research Strategy, which spans eight labs worldwide, according to IBM. He is leading IBMs global operations and information systems teams and is proof that ones work is never done, as the issues of today present new problems to be solved tomorrow.

For the many Black Americans that have shaped and continue to shape America, recognition is due. When people dont knowthey tend to make things up, Russell said. When this knowledge is attained, it allows for a different perception of black people today, and blacks perception of themselves, she continued.

More information on little known inventors like George Crum (potato chips), Sarah Boone (precursor to the ironing board), Thomas Elkins (refrigerated apparatus and chamber commode), Willis Johnson (egg-beater), Lloyd Ray (dustpan) and Richard Spikes (turning signals, automatic gear shift, etc.) can be found on BlackInventor.com.

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