BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Garrett Morgan - Lifesaver in more ways than one...
One of my personal favorites:
Garrett Morgan
He invented the gas mask and went into the cave himself to save the lives of trapped miners.
Oh BTW, did you know he also invented the STOP LIGHT?
Yeah, THAT stop light. the one we see and use EVERY DAY!
Read on, people of intelligence...
Link courtesy of BlackInventor.com
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Garrett Morgan is one of those rare people
who are able to come up with an extraordinary inventions which have a
tremendous impact on society – and then follows that up with even more!
Garrett Morgan was born on March 4, 1877 in Paris, Kentucky the seventh of 11 children born to Sydney and Elizabeth Morgan. Garrett, at the early age of 14 decided that he should travel north to Ohio in order to receive a better education. Morgan is an inspiration to many education seekers today, whether pursuing business with an AACSB accredited online MBA or masters in education. He moved to Cincinnati and then to Cleveland, working as a handyman in order to make ends meet. In Cleveland, he learned the inner workings of the sewing machine and in 1907 opened his own sewing machine store, selling new machines and repairing old ones. In 1908 Morgan married Mary Anne Hassek with whom he would have three sons.
In
1909, Morgan opened a tailoring shop, selling coats, suits and dresses.
While working in this shop he came upon a discover which brought about
his first invention. He noticed that the needle of a sewing machine
moved so fast that its friction often scorched the thread of the woolen
materials. He thus set out to develop a liquid that would provide a
useful polish to the needle, reducing friction. When his wife called him
to dinner, he wiped the liquid from his hands onto a a piece of
pony-fur cloth. When he returned to his workshop, he saw that the fibers
on the cloth were now standing straight up. He theorized that the fluid
had actually straightened the fibers. In order to confirm his theory,
he decided to apply some of the fluid to the hair of a neighbor’s dog,
an Airedale. The fluid straightened the dog’s hair so much, the
neighbor, not recognizing his own pet, chased the animal away. Morgan
then decided try the fluid on himself, to small portions of his hair at
first, and then to his entire head. He was successful and had invented
the first human-hair straightener. He marketed the product under the
name the G. A. Morgan Hair Refining Cream and sold by his G. A. Morgan
Refining Company, which became a very successful business.
In 1912, Morgan developed another invention, much different from his
hair straightener. Morgan called it a Safety Hood and patented it as a
Breathing Device, but the world came to know it as a Gas Mask. The
Safety Hood consisted of a hood worn over the head of a person from
which emanated a tube which reached near the ground and allowed in clean
air. The bottom of the tube was lined with a sponge type material that
would help to filter the incoming air. Another tube existed which
allowed the user to exhale air out of the device. Morgan intended the
device to be used “to provide a portable attachment which will enable a
fireman to enter a house filled with thick suffocating gases and smoke
and to breathe freely for some time therein, and thereby enable him to
perform his duties of saving life and valuables without danger to
himself from suffocation. The device is also efficient and useful for
protection to engineers, chemists and working men who are obliged to
breathe noxious fumes or dust derived from the materials in which they
are obliged to work.”
The National Safety Device Company, with Morgan as its General
Manager was set up to manufacture and sell the device and it was
demonstrated at various exhibitions across the country. At the Second
International Exposition of Safety and Sanitation, the device won first
prize and Morgan was award a gold medal. While demonstrations were good
for sales, the true test of the product would come only under real life
circumstances.
That opportunity arose on July 24, 1916 when an explosion occurred in a tunnel being dug under Lake Erie by the Cleveland Water Works. The tunnel quickly filled with smoke, dust and poisonous gases and trapped 32 workers underground. They were feared lost because no means of safely entering and rescuing them was known. Fortunately someone at the scene remembered about Morgan’s invention and ran to call him at his home where he was relaxing. Garrett and his brother Frank quickly arrived at the scene, donned the Safety Hood and entered the tunnel. After a heart wrenching delay, Garrett appeared from the tunnel carrying a survivor on his back as did his brother seconds later. The crowd erupted in a staggering applause and Garrett and Frank reentered the tunnel, this time joined by two other men. While they were unable to save all of the workers, the were able to rescue many who would otherwise have certainly died. Reaction to Morgan’s device and his heroism quickly spread across the city and the country as newspapers picked up on the story. Morgan received a gold medal from a Cleveland citizens group as well as a medal from the International Association of Fire Engineers, which also made him an honorary member.
Soon, orders came in from fire and police departments across the country. Unfortunately, many of these orders were canceled when it was discovered that Morgan was Black. Apparently, many people would rather face danger and possibly death than rely on a lifesaving device created by a Black man. Nonetheless, with the outbreak of World War I and the use of poisonous gases therein, Morgan’s Safety Hood, now known as the Gas Mask was utilized by the United States Army and saved the lives of thousands of soldiers.
Although
he could have relied on the income his Gas Masks generated, Morgan felt
compelled to try to solve safety problems of the day. One day he
witnessed a traffic accident when an automobile collided with a horse
and carriage. The driver of the automobile was knocked unconscious and
the horse had to be destroyed. He set out to develop a means of
automatically directing traffic without the need of a policeman or
worker present. He patented an automatic traffic signal which he said
could be “operated for directing the flow of traffic” and providing a
clear and unambiguous “visible indicator.”
Satisfied with his efforts, Morgan sold the rights to his device to
the General Electric Company for the astounding sum of $40,000.00 and it
became the standard across the country. Today’s modern traffic lights
are based upon Morgan’s original design.
At that point, Morgan was honored by many influential people around him, including such tycoons as John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan (after whom he named one of his sons.) Although his successes had brought him status and acclaim, Morgan never forgot that his fellow Blacks still suffered injustices and difficulties. His next endeavor sought to address these as he started a newspaper called the Cleveland Call (later renamed as the Call & Post.) He also served as the treasurer of the Cleveland Association of Colored Men which eventually merged with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and ran as a candidate for Cleveland’s City Council
In his later years, Morgan would develop glaucoma and would thereby lose 90% of his vision. He died on July 27, 1963 and because of his contribution, the world is certainly a much safer place.
More to come...
Garrett Morgan
He invented the gas mask and went into the cave himself to save the lives of trapped miners.
Oh BTW, did you know he also invented the STOP LIGHT?
Yeah, THAT stop light. the one we see and use EVERY DAY!
Read on, people of intelligence...
Link courtesy of BlackInventor.com
=============
Garrett Morgan
Garrett Morgan was born on March 4, 1877 in Paris, Kentucky the seventh of 11 children born to Sydney and Elizabeth Morgan. Garrett, at the early age of 14 decided that he should travel north to Ohio in order to receive a better education. Morgan is an inspiration to many education seekers today, whether pursuing business with an AACSB accredited online MBA or masters in education. He moved to Cincinnati and then to Cleveland, working as a handyman in order to make ends meet. In Cleveland, he learned the inner workings of the sewing machine and in 1907 opened his own sewing machine store, selling new machines and repairing old ones. In 1908 Morgan married Mary Anne Hassek with whom he would have three sons.
That opportunity arose on July 24, 1916 when an explosion occurred in a tunnel being dug under Lake Erie by the Cleveland Water Works. The tunnel quickly filled with smoke, dust and poisonous gases and trapped 32 workers underground. They were feared lost because no means of safely entering and rescuing them was known. Fortunately someone at the scene remembered about Morgan’s invention and ran to call him at his home where he was relaxing. Garrett and his brother Frank quickly arrived at the scene, donned the Safety Hood and entered the tunnel. After a heart wrenching delay, Garrett appeared from the tunnel carrying a survivor on his back as did his brother seconds later. The crowd erupted in a staggering applause and Garrett and Frank reentered the tunnel, this time joined by two other men. While they were unable to save all of the workers, the were able to rescue many who would otherwise have certainly died. Reaction to Morgan’s device and his heroism quickly spread across the city and the country as newspapers picked up on the story. Morgan received a gold medal from a Cleveland citizens group as well as a medal from the International Association of Fire Engineers, which also made him an honorary member.
Soon, orders came in from fire and police departments across the country. Unfortunately, many of these orders were canceled when it was discovered that Morgan was Black. Apparently, many people would rather face danger and possibly death than rely on a lifesaving device created by a Black man. Nonetheless, with the outbreak of World War I and the use of poisonous gases therein, Morgan’s Safety Hood, now known as the Gas Mask was utilized by the United States Army and saved the lives of thousands of soldiers.
At that point, Morgan was honored by many influential people around him, including such tycoons as John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan (after whom he named one of his sons.) Although his successes had brought him status and acclaim, Morgan never forgot that his fellow Blacks still suffered injustices and difficulties. His next endeavor sought to address these as he started a newspaper called the Cleveland Call (later renamed as the Call & Post.) He also served as the treasurer of the Cleveland Association of Colored Men which eventually merged with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and ran as a candidate for Cleveland’s City Council
In his later years, Morgan would develop glaucoma and would thereby lose 90% of his vision. He died on July 27, 1963 and because of his contribution, the world is certainly a much safer place.
More to come...
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