Garrett Augustus Morgan, one of the most successful black inventors of all time, created two major inventions that today protect us from danger. Those inventions are the gas mask and traffic lights.
Born on March 4, 1877 in Paris, Kentchuky, Garrett A. Morgan had an innate mechanical spirit that allowed him to solve problems.
After moving to Cleveland, Ohio at the age of 18, Garrett Morgan’s business acumen and strong work ethic led him to almost immediate success. He invented a hair straightener and starts his own sewing equipment repair business.
But Garrett Morgan’s most prolific achievements will be realized a few years later. On July 25, 1916, Garrett Morgan made the front page of the national media in the United States. In the company of his brother and two volunteers, he has just used the Safety Hood and Smoke Protector, a kind of gas mask he developed and for which he obtained the patent in 1914. He uses this mask to save several men who had been trapped by an explosion in a smoky subterranean tunnel located more than 250 feet below Lake Erie.
A first rescue team had descended into the tunnel, without coming back before someone who knew Garrett Morgan and his invention thought of soliciting him. This is how Garrett Morgan, his brother, and volunteers took the risk and put on masks to help them out. The rescue was so successful that requests for masks began to pour in. He will receive a gold medal for his bravery from the city of Cleveland and a medal of the order of the American firefighters.
Another famous Garrett Morgan invention that protects us every day is the traffic lights. After witnessing an accident on the road, he decided that it was necessary to put in place a device that would prevent cars, strollers, and pedestrians from colliding. Its traffic lights have been designed to stand on a corner of the street and inform vehicles and pedestrians when they must advance or stop. After receiving his patent in 1923 for this invention, the rights of that invention were ultimately purchased by General Electric.
Garrett Morgan had also created a newspaper called “Cleveland Call” for African Americans, one of whose goals was to fight the racism that blacks suffer in Ohio. He will also become an active member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), an association promoting black rights in the United States.
Garrett Morgan will develop glaucoma that will make him overtime almost blind and he will die on July 27, 1963, in Cleveland. He leaves behind him, two great inventions that today protect us from everyday danger.
