Lots of emphasis has been put on Black inventors over the past few decades in America. Access to information has caused heated debates on who the inventions actually belong to especially as it pertains to race. This becomes a matter of importance for black people because of the continued academic narrative that teaches children that Black people haven’t made any real or major contributions to modern America. Two things are important to remember with concerns to patents; 99% of all patents are improvements on an old invention and patent titles are usually short and can be misleading.

With that being said let’s look at 4 black inventors that everyone should know about and the things they either invented or improved on.

1. Henry E. Baker Jr (1 September 1857–27 April 1928) – The very first inventor that should be known by every black person in America isn’t actually an inventor at all but if it wasn’t for his work we would know next to nothing about any of the black inventors. Henry Baker endured much abuse in his life at the hands of racism while attending the Naval Academy. In 1877 he joined the Patent Office as a copyist and by 1902 he rose in rank to become the Second Assistant Examiner. After he reached this career marker he set his sights to creating a body of work that would recognize as many black inventors as he could find and verify. His work produced the first list of African American Patent Holders and has been the bases of all work and study on black inventors in America.

2. Thomas L. Jennings (1791 – 1859) – Thomas Jennings is credited with being the first black person to hold a patent. A tailor in New York City, his patent was awarded in 1821 for a dry cleaning process called dry scouring. The first thing he did with the money he obtained from his patent was to free his family from slavery. He became a financial supporter to the abolitionist cause.

3. Sarah E. Goode (1855 – 1905) – Sarah Goode is credited with being the first black woman to hold a patent.

Sarah was born Sarah Elizabeth Jacobs to two legally recognized mulatto parents. She later married Archibald Goode and opened a furniture store. In 1885 she received a patent for her invention which was an invention of necessity. Because most of her customers lived in small spaces they complained about not having room for furniture. She created the cabinet bed which was a desk with space for holding things when the bed was loaded up, when the bed was let down it offered a comfortable sleeping space.

4. Lewis H. Latimer (1848-1928) – Lewis Latimer has become a figure shrouded in inaccuracies as his story gains more and more attention by the public. Lewis Latimer was the child of 2 runaway slaves, when his fathers “owner” tracked him down the ensuing case created a landmark battle in the fight for the abolishment of slavery. Eventually $400 was raised to pay for his father’s freedom, that’s more than $11,000 in today’s terms.

The controversy actually comes into the discussion when we begin to talk about the invention of the light bulb. To clear matters up neither Latimer nor Edison invented the light build. But Latimer did invent improvements for the light bulb which were used by Edison. He also invented improvements for the railroad car toilet system, he patented a process of manufacturing carbons, and with his experience in the patent office, was hired as a draftsman for numerous companies.

While there are tons of black inventors to learn about, these 4 where selected because of the pioneering work they did in the face of tremendous adversity. Their work provided the foundation for most of what we still use to this very day.