Granville Tailer Woods (born April 23, 1856, Columbus, Ohio, USA and died January 30, 1910, New York City, New York, USA) was an African-American inventor, holder of more than 50 patents. He is also the first American of African origin to have been a mechanical and electrical engineer after the American Civil War.
Self-taught, he has devoted most of his work to trains and trams. One of his most notable inventions is The Multiplex Telegraph, a device that allowed messages to be sent between stations and moving trains. His work has ensured a safer and better public transportation system for cities in the United States.
Granville Woods was born to an African-American family in 1856. At age 10 he worked with his father as a repairman and machinist on the railroad.
He studied engineering for two years and worked for The Danville and Southern Railroad. In 1884, Granville Woods and his brother Lyates set up a business: The Woods Railway Telegraph Company, which sells and manufactures telephone and telegraph equipment. He then moved to Cincinnati, Ohio.
Woods contributes to the improvement of the railroad, in 1890 he creates a dimmer.
In 1885 he created the “Telegraphony”, a machine combining the telephone and the telegraph and he patented his invention. He sells his rights to the Bell Telephone Company, which allows communication between stations. His patent allows him to live as a full-time inventor.
Thomas Edison patented the Third Rail system in 1886 on the idea of Woods.
In 1887, Woods invented a “The Multiplex Telegraph” system, based on the same idea as that of Charles Joseph Van Depoele, but segregation did not allow Granville Woods to really take advantage of his new invention.
Thomas Edison & Granville Woods clashed over copyrights and patents at the Telegraph Multiplex, but Granville Woods won and Edison proposed to Woods to come and work him. However, Woods refused and prefered to stay independent.
