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Garrett A. Morgan
was born in Paris, Kentucky on March 4, 1877. His parents were former slaves. Morgan spent his childhood attending school and working with his brothers and sisters on the family farm . While in his teens, he moved north to Cincinnati, Ohio in search of employment.
Morgan spent most of his teen years working as a handyman for a wealthy Cincinnati landowner. As with many African-Americans of his day, Morgan had to start working quit school at a young age, in order to work. However, the teenaged Morgan hired his own tutor, and continued his studies while living in Cincinnati.
In 1895, Morgan moved to Cleveland, Ohio. There, he worked as a sewing machine repairman for a clothing manufacturer. News of his skill at fixing things and experimenting spread quickly throughout Cleveland.
In 1907, Morgan opened his own sewing machine and repair shop. It was the first of several businesses he would own. In 1909, he expanded his business to include a tailoring shop that provided jobs for 32 employees. The company made coats, suits, dresses, etc. - all sewn with equipment that Morgan himself had made.
The Safety Hood and Smoke Protector
On July 25, 1916, Morgan made national news after an explosion at the Cleveland Waterworks ripped through a tunnel, trapping underground workers. Deadly gases and heavy smoke filled the underground spaces making it difficult to rescue the workers. Finally, someone in the crowd remembered a Black man who had won a won a gold medal at the Second International Exposition of Sanitation and Safety. Cleveland's fire department turned to Morgan for help. In a dramatic and heroic rescue effort
Morgan and his brother successfully rescued several men trapped under Lake Erie, in the bowels of the Cleveland Waterworks. Afterwards however, credit was given to two White men instead.
Morgan had received a patent for his gas mask, and had begun to sell it, but when it was discovered that he was African-American, many orders were cancelled. However, Morgan continued to perfect his mask.
After the rescue, Morgan's company received requests from fire departments around the country who wished to purchase the new masks. The Morgan gas mask was later refined for use by the U.S. Army during World War I. In 1921, Morgan was awarded a patent for a Safety Hood and Smoke Protector. Two years later, a refined model of his early gas mask won a gold medal at the International Exposition of Sanitation and Safety, and another gold medal from the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
In 1920 Morgan moved into the newspaper business when he established "The Cleveland Call". As the years went on, he became a prosperous and widely respected business man, and he was able to purchase a home and an automobile. Indeed it was Morgan's experience while driving along the streets of Cleveland that led to the invention the nation's first patented traffic signal.
The Garrett Morgan Traffic Signal
The first American-made automobiles were introduced to U.S. consumers shortly before the turn of the century. The Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903. American consumers began to discover the adventures of the open road.In the early years of the 20th century, it was not uncommon for bicycles, animal-powered wagons and new gasoline-powered motor vehicles to share the same streets and roadways with pedestrians. Accidents were frequent. After witnessing a collision between an automobile and a horse-drawn carriage, Morgan was convinced that something should be done to improve traffic safety.
While other inventors are reported to have experimented with and even marketed traffic signals (one such device in England exploding and killing a patrolman), Garrett A. Morgan was the first to apply for and acquire a U.S. patent for a traffic signal. The patent was granted on November 20, 1923. Morgan later had the technology patented in England and Canada as well.
The Morgan traffic signal was a T-shaped pole unit that featured three positions: Stop, Go and an all-directional stop position. This “third position” halted traffic in all directions to allow pedestrians to cross streets more safely.
Morgan sold the rights to his traffic signal to the General Electric Corporation for $40,000. Shortly before his death, in 1963, Morgan was awarded a citation for his traffic signal by the United States Government.
He also invented a zig-zag stitching attachment for manually operated sewing machines. He founded a company that made personal grooming products, such as hair dying ointments, and the curved-tooth pressing comb.
The lives that were saved by Morgan's inventions are astronomical, if you consider the number of lives it saved in WWI alone. He received many awards and citations for his inventions. At the Emancipation Centinnial Celebration in Chicago, Illinois in August of 1963, Morgan was nationally recognized.
Garrett A. Morgan died on August 27, 1963, at the age of 86.Other Morgan Inventions
Garrett Morgan was constantly experimenting to develop new concepts. Though the traffic signal and gas mask are his most renowned inventions, they were just two of several he developed, manufactured and sold over the years.
