This list of African-American inventors and scientists documents many of the African-Americans who have invented a multitude of items or made discoveries in the course of their lives. These have ranged from practical everyday devices to applications and scientific discoveries in diverse fields, including physics, biology, math, and medicine.
History African-Americans have been the victims of oppression, discrimination and persecution throughout American history, with an impact on African-American innovation according to a 2014 study by economist Lisa D. Cook, which linked violence towards African-Americans and lack of legal protections over the period from 1870 to 1940 with lowered innovation. Despite this, many black innovators have been responsible for a large number of major inventions.
Among the earliest was George Washington Carver, whose reputation was based on his research into and promotion of alternative crops to cotton, which aided in nutrition for farm families. He wanted poor farmers to grow alternative crops both as a source of their own food and as a source of other products to improve their way of life. The most popular of his 44 practical bulletins for farmers contained 105 food recipes using peanuts.Carver, George Washington. 1916. "How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it for Human Consumption" , Tuskegee Institute Experimental Station Bulletin 31. He also developed and promoted about 100 products made from peanuts that were useful for the house and farm. He received numerous honors for his work, including the Spingarn Medal of the NAACP.
A later renowned scientist was Percy Lavon Julian, a research chemist and a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants. He was the first to synthesize the natural product physostigmine, and a pioneer in the industrial large-scale chemical synthesis of the human hormones, steroids, progesterone, and testosterone, from plant sterols such as stigmasterol and sitosterol. His work would lay the foundation for the steroid drug industry's production of cortisone, other corticosteroids, and birth control pills.
A contemporary example of a modern-day inventor is Lonnie George Johnson, an engineer. Johnson invented the Super Soaker water gun, which was the top-selling toy in the United States from 1991 to 1992. In 1980 Johnson formed his own law firm and licensed the Super Soaker water gun to Larami Corporation. Two years later, the Super Soaker generated over $200 million in retail sales and became the best selling toy in North America. Larami Corporation was eventually purchased by Hasbro, the second-largest toy manufacturer in the world. Over the years, Super Soaker sales have totaled close to one billion dollars. Johnson reinvested a majority of his earnings from the Super Soaker into research and development for his energy technology companies – "It's who I am, it's what I do." As of 2019, Johnson holds over 120 patents, with more pending, and is the author of several publications on spacecraft power systems.Roche, Timothy. Soaking In Success, Time, December 4, 2000.Products Created by Independent Inventors , April 2, 2009, Inventors Digest.
List
Name Years Occupations Inventions / accomplishments References Abebe, Rediet 1991- computer scientist First woman computer scientist to be appointed to the Harvard Society of Fellows Adams, Christopher scientist, entrepreneur, and inventor Founded and led (as chief executive officer) multiple biotechnology companies, including Mosaic Technologies and Andarix Pharmaceuticals Adkins, Rodney 1958– Electrical engineer First African-American to serve as a senior vice president at IBM, helped develop IBM ThinkPad Alcorn, George Edward Jr. 1940–2024 Physicist, inventor Invented a method of fabricating an imaging X-ray spectrometer Alexander, Archie 1888–1958 Civil engineer Responsible for the construction of many roads and bridges, including the Whitehurst Freeway, the Tidal Basin Bridge, and an extension to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. Alexander, Claudia 1959–2015 geophysics and planetary science research scientist Last project manager of NASA's Galileo mission to Jupiter and until the time of her death had served as project manager and scientist of NASA's role in the European-led Rosetta mission to study Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko Ammons, Virgie December 29, 1908 – July 12, 2000 Inventor Filed the fireplace throat damper patent on August 6, 1974. Amos, Harold 1918–2003 Microbiologist First African-American department chair at Harvard Medical School Bailey, Leonard C. 1825–1918 Inventor Ball, Alice Augusta 1892–1916 Chemist Developed a technique to make chaulmoogra oil injectable and absorbable, for the first effective treatment of Hansen's disease (leprosy) Banneker, Benjamin 1731–1806 Almanac author; surveyor; farmer Constructed wooden clock; astronomer; assisted in the survey of the original boundaries of the District of Columbia; authored a series of almanacs and ephemerides; naturalist: recorded observations on emergences of periodical cicadas and on the behavior of honey bees. Banyaga, Augustin 1947– Mathematician Work on diffeomorphisms and symplectomorphismsInstitute for Advanced Study: A Community of Scholars Bashen, Janet 1957– Inventor, entrepreneur, professional consultant First African-American woman to receive a patent for a web-based software invention, LinkLine, an Equal Employment Opportunity case management and tracking software, Retrieved from About.com website March 14, 2011. Bath, Patricia 1942–2019 Ophthalmologist First African-American female physician to receive a patent for a medical invention; inventions relate to cataract surgery and include the Laserphaco Probe, which revolutionized the industry in the 1980s, and an ultrasound technique for treatment Beard, Andrew 1849–1921 Farmer, carpenter, blacksmith, railroad worker, businessman, inventor Janney coupler improvements; invented the car device #594,059 dated November 23, 1897; rotary engine patent #478,271 dated July 5, 1892 Bell, Earl S. 1977– Inventor, entrepreneur, architect, industrial designer Invented chair with sliding skin (2004) and the quantitative display apparatus (2005), Retrieved from About.com website June 6, 2011.Earl S. Bell, Retrieved from uspto.gov website June 6, 2011.