Cody Croan Kendra Harty Pearl Webb

 The Few first:  Thomas Fuller  Came to America as a slave in 1724  “…the famous African Calculator…”  Came to America with his calculation abilities.  Became an explicit example that people were equal in mental ability. (Williams, Thomas Fuller).

 Benjamin Banneker  Recreated survey plans for Washington D.C. from memory  Sit meditating by a peach tree at night and remain thinking on the heavenly bodies until sunrise to go to bed  Given more recognition in his scientific endeavors and abilities. (Williams, Benjamin Banneker ).

 Revealed the significance of cytoplasm in the cell.  Synthesization of medicines like cortisone.  Automated lubrication systems for industrial machinery.  Truck refrigeration  Safety through gas masks and traffic lights. (Jenkins)

 Open-mindedness and Humility  “Minimize interference and allow creativity to flow.”  “Research problems should be care-fully and precisely defined“ (Jenkins)

 Benjamin Banneker used his own accomplishments in astronomy and mathematics as counterarguments to fight against those made to justify slavery (Jenkins).  Garrett A. Morgan went on unrewarded and unrecognized for his heroic role in the Lake Erie Crib Disaster (Jenkins).

 Born in Paris, Kentucky, March 4,  Parents are Sydney and Elizabeth Morgan. They were former slaves.  Garrett spent most of his younger years going to school and working on the family farm.

 At age 14, Garrett decided to travel north for employment opportunities.  Garrett then moved to Cincinnati and found work as a handyman for a wealthy Cincinnati land-owner.

 In 1895, Morgan moved to Cleveland, Ohio.  He was employed as a sewing machine repairman for a clothing producer.  Experimenting with devices and tools became Morgan’s obsession.  Morgan married Madge Nelson in 1896; they were divorced in  In 1908, Morgan married Mary Anne Hassek. They had three children: John P. Morgan, Garrett A. Morgan Jr., and Cosmo H. Morgan.

 In 1907, Morgan opened his own sewing equipment and repair shop.  In 1909, he expanded the enterprise to include a tailoring shop.  The Tailoring shop retained 32 employees.  The new company made clothing from coats and suits to dresses.  All items and material were sewn with equipment Morgan had made himself.  Morgan died in Cleveland and was buried in Lake View Cemetery.

 One night he was called to dinner and wiped his hands on a piece of coarse, wiry pony fur  When he returned to his workshop, he found that the pony fur was straight  He then asked a neighbor if he could try and replicate the results on his dog  When Morgan straightened all the dog’s hair, the neighbor then rejected the dog because he did not recognize him anymore

 He started G.A. Morgan Hair Refining Company in 1913, which manufactured and sold products  Later, he created a hair dying ointment and a curved tooth pressing comb  Morgan also invented a zig-zag stitching attachment for manually operated sewing machines and a self-extinguishing cigarette filter

 It was a canvas hood with two tubes, part of the device held on the back filtered smoke outward, while cooling the air inside  Morgan's safety hood was widely adopted in the North, where over 500 cities bought it  He sold the hoods to the U.S. Navy, and the Army used them in WWI

 The south was still segregated, so because he was black it made it difficult for him to sell his invention  Morgan's hood got great press in 1916, when he used it to save workers in a collapsed tunnel under Lake Erie  But Cleveland's newspapers and city officials wrote Morgan -- who had ventured into the tunnel first -- out of the story, ignoring Morgan's heroism  Because of the widespread publicity, Morgan received many requests from fire departments, police departments, and mining companies to demonstrate his device  It was years before the city recognized his contributions, but by the time he died he was vindicated as a hero of the Lake Erie rescue

 Morgan wanted to improve public safety after witnessing a collision between an automobile and a horse drawn carriage  Was the first signal to include a caution, in addition to the stop and go  U.S. patent granted in 1923  He eventually sold his rights to the signal to General Electric for $40,000

Anonymous Garrett Morgan [Online]. Available: Anonymous Garrett A. Morgan Association [Online]. Available: gama/gamlife.htm Anonymous. Who made America? [Online]. Available: ml

Jenkins, E. S Bridging the two cultures American black scientists and inventors. Journal of Black Studies. 21 (3): King, W. M Guardian of the public safety: Garret A. Morgan and the Lake Erie crib disaster. The Journal of Negro History 70 (1/2): Williams, S Benjamin Banneker [Online]. Available: Williams, S Thomas Fuller: African slave and mathematician [Online]. Available:

Garrett A. Morgan Association. Garrett A. Morgan - Biography. Federal highway administration: Home. [online] Available: The Black Inventor Online Museum. "Garrett Morgan: The Black Inventor Online Museum - a Look at Black Inventors and their Contributions to Society. “ [online] Available: Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Encyclopedia of Cleveland History: MORGAN, GARRETT A. The encyclopedia of Cleveland history. [online] Available: