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TheVillage Celebrates African American Inventors

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February is Black History Month! And what better way to celebrate than to lift from obscurity African Americans who played crucial roles in this country’s scientific, cultural and industrial progress. Their achievements saved thousands of lives, made the lives of many Americans easier and in some instances changed the course of history. And yet, they are largely forgotten by the world they helped to change for the better. In this series, we will highlight some of these under-appreciated and forgotten men and women.

Garrett A. Morgan: A Life Saver Whose Inventions Changed the World

With only an elementary school education and a dime in his pocket, a teenage Garrett Augustus Morgan moved to Cleveland, Ohio in search of a better opportunity in 1895. There he would become an inventor whose devices would save thousands of lives.

Born March 4, 1877 in Paris, Kentucky, as the seventh child of a former slave and a Mulatto father, Morgan taught himself how to use a sewing machine and years later opened up a large tailoring shop, according to Louis Haber, author of Black Pioneers and Invention.

But soon the entrepreneur became an inventor whose devices included the belt fattener for sewing machines and a hair straightener. Morgan was using a liquid to polish sewing machines needles to prevent them from scorching the fabric when he accidentally discovered that using the same liquid can straighten hair, Haber said. He launched the G. A Morgan Hair Refining company and started marketing the product by converting it into cream. In 1910 he also made a black hair oil dye and invented a curved-tooth comb for hair straightening, according to online reports.

But perhaps, his most important invention was the Safety Hood, which he made in 1912 and would use years later to rescue trapped workers.

On July 25, 1916, residents woke to learn of an explosion at a Cleveland Water Works’ tunnel, 250 feet below Lake Erie. A foreman had led a crew down into the tunnel shortly before natural gas vented up from the lake bed and somehow ignited, burying the crew under hundreds of feet of mud and tunnel debris.

Rescuers rushed to help, but soon became victims when they were unable to leave the tunnel. After two rescue attempts had failed and 10 people had died, someone from the rescue team thought of Morgan and his Safety Hood, which had been publicized and used in various demonstrations. The safety Hood would later become known as the gas mask.

The Safety Hood is a device that uses a hood to be placed over the user’s head and a tube with an inlet opening for air.

Morgan was still wearing his pajamas when he rushed to the scene with his brother Frank and four of his hoods, according to Black Then, Discovering Our History. Morgan and his brother put on the hood and rushed into the gas-and-smoke filled tunnel to help.

“Grim-faced men and sobbing women were beginning to give up hope when suddenly a cheer went up,” Haber said in his book. “Morgan had emerged from the tunnel carrying an injured man on his back! He immediately re-entered the tunnel for more.”

During World War I, Morgan’s Safety Hood was improved and transformed into the gas mask. It was used to save thousands of soldiers on the battlefield. It’s now used by industrial workers, firemen and underwater divers and anyone else who need helmets that could provide breathable air

Years later Morgan came out with another invention that would have world-wide impact after he witnessed a crash between a car and a horse-drawn carriage. The driver of the automobile was knocked unconscious and the horse was so badly injured that he had to be shot, Haber reported.

With the growing number of automobiles on the street, Morgan felt something had to be done to prevent accidents. And he came up with the first traffic light signal system, which is now used all over the world.

Morgan, a husband and father of three, was a jolly, quick-tempered and outspoken man. But his warmth and good nature brought him many friends including John D. Rockefeller and the financier, J. Piermont Morgan. Morgan died on July 27, 1963.

Black History

Trump Signs Executive Orders That Will Impact HBCUs and Black Schoolchildren

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President Donald Trump signed an executive order that will provide support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and establish a White House Initiative on HBCUs to “deliver high-quality education to a growing number of students.”

According to the White House, the Initiative will help develop private-sector partnerships, institutional development and workforce preparation in technology, health care, manufacturing and finance. 

The president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Dr. Harry L. Williams said, “Today’s executive order serves as strong reaffirmation of President Trump’s support of investment of historically Black colleges and universities. This executive order should serve as a call-to-action for corporations, foundations, members of Congress and state lawmakers to redouble their efforts to support HBCUs and their students. TMCF looks forward to continued engagement with the administration and Congress to deliver results for HBCUs and the students they serve via appropriations and other legislative actions.”

On the same day, Trump signed another executive order that removes safeguards for African American schoolchildren by eliminating an Obama-era initiative to protect Black schoolchildren from excessive disciplinary action.

During the Obama administration, the first Black president’s administration created guidelines that sought to prevent school discipline from having a disproportionate effect on minority students. Trump revoked the civil rights initiative during his first term and Biden did not formally restore it. 

At his signing today, Trump said his decision was especially important to the current Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who held the signed order.

“Under the Biden-Harris Administration, schools were forced to consider equity and inclusion when imposing discipline,” McMahon said in a statement. “Their policies placed racial equity quotas over student safety – encouraging schools to turn a blind eye to poor or violent behavior in the name of inclusion.”

She added, “Disciplinary decisions should be based solely on students’ behavior and actions.

Studies show that Black students are punished more often than their white counterparts.

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President Jimmy Carter Appointed the First Black Woman to Lead a Federal Agency

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President Jimmy Carter advanced opportunities for African Americans throughout his life,
advocating for justice and peace consistent with the Christian values he embraced. Since his
death on December 29 at age 100, Mr. Carter’s praises have been sung from his home state of
Georgia to points around the globe. And while the former president’s one-term in the White
House is dismissed by some political pundits for a lack of policies or accomplishments that
changed the course of history, his character and integrity set him apart.


Carter became the first president to appoint a Black woman head of a federal agency. He chose
Patricia Roberts Harris to lead the Housing and Urban Development when he took office in
1977.


Harris said, “I feel deeply proud and grateful this President chose me to knock down this barrier, but also a little sad about being the ‘first Negro woman,’ because it implies we were not
considered before.”


Senator William Proxmire questioned Carter’s choice, saying Harris came from too much wealth and influence to be an effective leader. But Carter stood by his decision, and Harris stayed in the position for two years.


The 39th president’s name is also included on the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame.


Civil rights activist, Rev. Al Sharpton recalled a conversation he shared with Carter.


“It was very significant, I was talking there at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial, and I was talking to President Clinton and President Carter,” Sharpton recalled. “And when Clinton and I finished talking, President Carter touched me on my arm and said, ‘How are you doing with your ministry, Al? I see you out there with your activism. Don’t leave your ministry … keep your prayer life going.’ And you could tell he sincerely meant it. He was not one who talked about his religion as a political kind of something you could say to voters.”


President Joe Biden declared January 9, 2025, a national day of mourning. Millions watched the former president’s funeral on television as he was remembered as a man of honesty,
compassion and faith – which included championing the rights of Americans who knew firsthand the struggle of injustice

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Black History

The Congressional Black Caucus Prepares for “Important” Work

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The Congressional Black Caucus started the 119th Congress with its largest membership. There were 62 members sworn in today.

“On behalf of the entire Congressional Black Caucus, congratulations to the members of the Executive Committee of the 119th Congress. 53 years after our Caucus’ founding, our work to improve the lives and conditions of Black people in America is more important than ever before,” said CBC President Steven Horsford.

Photo Credit: Ron Busby, U.S. Black Chambers Inc.

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