Garrett Morgan: Inventor Who Developed One Of The First Gas Masks
Fotosearch/Getty ImagesGarrett A. Morgan was a businessman, inventor, and activist.
Garrett Morgan was a successful businessman and inventor of many things, including the three-position traffic signal. But his most consequential creation was his “safety hood” for smoke, often described as the precursor to modern gas masks.
Garrett Augustus Morgan was born in Paris, Kentucky, in 1877. He grew up in the post-Civil War Reconstruction era and had a mixed background of Black, white, and Indigenous heritage. As the grandson of a slave, Morgan only had a sixth-grade education — but his natural intelligence, ingenuity, and impeccable work ethic aided him in achieving more in his career.
For instance, he was the only Black machine adjuster at the Cleveland textile factory where he worked. This rare opportunity helped him hone his skills in mechanics. By 1907, he opened his own repair shop and then later began a clothing business with his wife, an immigrant seamstress from Bavaria.
Besides working on repairs, Garrett Morgan dabbled in his own inventions. He had noticed firefighters — equipped with little protection — struggling with the smoke during their rescues. So, Morgan began work on a specially-made safety hood to protect rescuers from the fumes.
In 1914, Morgan secured a patent for his device, which was a canvas hood with two tubes. Part of the device filtered smoke outward while cooling the air inside. Over time, it was adopted by firefighters and rescuers all over the northern United States. He also sold the hoods to the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Army used them during World War I.
Wikimedia CommonsA newspaper photo of Morgan’s heroic act during the rescue at Lake Erie.
But being a Black man, his invention received little fanfare in the segregated South. So while he was selling his products to firefighters in that region, he was often forced to hire white actors to pose as the inventor. Desperate to be part of the presentation, Morgan would sometimes disguise himself as an Indian chief.
Playing the role of the white inventor’s sidekick, Morgan would demonstrate the safety of his own device — by deliberately walking into areas that would otherwise be unsafe for breathing. To Morgan’s delight, the tactic worked. However, he couldn’t disguise himself forever.
He personally demonstrated the effectiveness of his smoke hood during a rescue of workers at a tunnel explosion below Lake Erie in 1916. But since this rescue gave his invention more publicity than ever, it was crystal-clear to many former buyers that he was African American — which unfortunately hurt his sales. To make matters worse, his heroism was all but written out of the story by the Cleveland press.
The racial discrimination Garrett Morgan endured motivated his political activism. As a wealthy Black entrepreneur, Morgan was one of the first members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and donated money to Black colleges.
He also launched the African American newspaper The Cleveland Call and started an all-Black country club. Later on, his creations of the smoke hood and the three-position traffic signal would go on to serve as inspiration for future inventions that improve our lives to this day.
Despite the tremendous challenges Morgan faced, it’s clear he believed in himself. Not only did he refer to himself as the “Black Edison,” he once reportedly said, “If you can be the best, then why not try to be the best?”
Now that you’ve become familiar with famous Black inventors in U.S. history, take a look at the only seven Black billionaires in modern-day America. Next, read about the courageous contributions of the Harlem Hellfighters, the all-Black military squad of World War I.
ncG1vNJzZmiZnKHBqa3TrKCnrJWnsrTAyKeeZ5ufonyjuMCcomahnquyr8DOq6pobw%3D%3D