The LIT History Series is for the Legends, Innovators, and Trailblazers that have shaped our culture. I love history, and in turn, I love Black history. So much of our culture has been defined by those who’ve come before us, so I write this to capture and chronicle our narratives.

I get so tickled (more like annoyed) when the contributions of black people in this country are questioned. Like… really? Dost thou really not knoweth the depths to which we have made your lives better? Selective memory, I suppose.

Aside from building this country and a whole host of innovations, black men and women have made extraordinary progress in engineering and science.

Here is just a handful of them.

1. Dr. Charles Drew

Dr. Charles Drew was a physician, researcher and a surgeon who completely revolutionized the understanding of blood plasma. His work led to the invention of blood banks.

2. Lewis Latimer

Born to parents who fled slavery, Lewis Howard Latimer helped draft the patent for Alexander Graham Bell’s design of the telephone. He also patented a carbon filament for the incandescent light bulb that helped make electric lighting practical and affordable for the average household.

3. Garrett Morgan

Garrett Morgan only had a sixth-grade education with an innate mechanical mind and an entrepreneurial spirit. Most of us know him because of his invention of the three-positioned traffic signal, but Morgan’s patents also include a hair-straightening chemical, a gas mask, and a revamped sewing machine.

4. Frederick McKinley Jones

Frederick Jones invented an automatic refrigeration system for long-haul trucks and railroad cars. Jones also invented an air-conditioning unit for military field hospitals, a self-starting gas engine, and he was posthumously awarded the National Medal of Technology in 1991. He was the first Black inventor to ever receive such an honor.

5. James West

In 1962, James West developed the electret transducer technology later used in 90 percent of contemporary microphones.

6. George Washington Carver

We all know him! This scientist and inventor discovered over 300 different uses for peanuts including making cooking oil, axle grease and printer’s ink!

7. George Alcorn

Alcorn developed the imaging x-ray spectrometer. This device helps scientists better understand what materials are composed of when they cannot be physically broken down. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2015.

8. Lonnie G. Johnson

This former Air Force and NASA engineer gave kids their summer bliss. This man invented the Super Soaker. Can I thank him personally?

9. Dr. Patricia Bath

She is the first Black woman to complete a residency in ophthalmology and the first Black female doctor to receive a medical patent. She invented the Laserphaco Probe for cataract treatment in 1986.

10. Percy Julian

Percy Julian was a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs such as cortisone, steroids and birth control pills.

11. Mark Dean

Mark Dean is credited with helping to develop the color PC monitor, the Industry Standard Architecture system bus, and the first gigahertz chip. He holds three of IBM’s original nine PC patents and currently holds more than 20 total patents.

12. Benjamin Banneker

Scientist. Author. Astronomer. Mathematician. Farmer. Benjamin Banneker is responsible for the first clock built in the New World when he was 22 years old. It kept perfect time for forty years. He successfully predicted an eclipse in 1789, and, from 1792 to 1802, he published an annual Farmer’s Almanac, for which he did all the calculations.

13. Madame CJ Walker

You didn’t think I forgot, did you? The first American woman (of any color) to become a self-made millionaire. The pioneer of the Black hair care industry. She’s everything.

Clearly, there are more people that could be on this list for days. Our unsung heroes prove how integral black people are to our society and the important contributions that we’ve made.

You’re welcome.

Contribute to the list and add more inventors/innovators in the comments!

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