Genius inventor, and businessman Garrett Augustus Morgan was born in Paris, Kentucky March 4, 1877 to Sidney and Elizabeth (Reed) Morgan. Elizabeth Morgan had been a slave freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. She and Sidney had eleven children, Garrett Morgan was the seventh.

After only six years of schooling in Kentucky, Morgan (Garrett) moved to Cincinnati as a teenager. At that time, northern cities provided more opportunities for people of color. In Cincinnati, Morgan worked as a handyman for a wealthy landowner. But, he had a much better vision for his life, and the courage to try to

fulfill it. So, in 1895 he moved to Cleveland, Ohio. In Cleveland through hard work and brilliant problem solving skills, Morgan became known as a genius inventor.

His first invention was a belt fastener for a sewing machine, which he designed while working for a clothing manufacturer. Driven and hardworking, in 1907 Morgan opened his own sewing machine business and later a clothing manufacturing business.

Morgan received a patent in 1914 for his "breathing device" which he also called a "safety helmet". Today, this "device" is call a gas mask. Bravely, Morgan and his brother used the breathing device to rescue several workmen trapped in a toxic gas-filled water works tunnel 128 feet under Lake Erie. For their heroic efforts, Morgan received a gold medal. The "safety helmet" had proven its effectiveness and importance. Afterwards, Morgan's mask was widely used by fire and police departments throughout our country and later the world. Modern versions have served important roles in military combat.

After witnessing an accident involving a horse-pulled buggy and an automobile at a street intersection, Morgan put his creative problem solving talents to work and created the

electric traffic light signal. Morgan received a patent for this invention in 1923. He sold rights to this invention to General Electric Company for $40,000 shortly afterwards.

Morgan also published a newspaper titled the Cleveland Call, to provide better news coverage of African American affairs in Cleveland, and was an active member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Morgan died on July 27, 1963 in Cleveland and was buried in the Lake View Cemetery.

 Sources:

Gibbs, G.R. Black Inventors from Africa to America. 3 Dimensional Publishing Co., 1995.

Hayden, Robert C. Nine African -American Inventors. Twenty-First Books, 1992.