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Bessie Coleman was born into poverty and picked cotton to help support her family. As WWI ended, her dream was to fly, but every flying school turned her down because of her gender and race.More >> African-Americans have contributed to American society in every walk of life, and one purpose of Black History Month is to call attention to some of those who may have escaped notice. Here are 10 brief biographies from the Profile America series produced by the U.S. Census Bureau.More >> Zora Neale Hurston was one of the great talents of the Harlem Renaissance - but had to work as a manicurist to support herself.More >> A century ago, bread bought at stores was hand-made, a time intensive process. That changed when a baker from Boston, Joseph Lee, invented the automatic bread-making machine.More >> Thousands of Americans owe their lives to the inventions of Garrett Morgan. The son of former slaves, Morgan invented the gas mask.More >> When William Grant Still mounted the podium and began conducting the L.A. Philharmonic in 1936, it marked the first time that an African-American had led a major symphonic orchestra.More >>
From the U.S. Census Bureau
Thousands of Americans owe their lives to the inventions of Garrett Morgan.
The son of former slaves, Morgan invented the gas mask. Originally designed for firemen, he used one of his masks to help rescue men trapped by a gas explosion in a tunnel under Lake Erie. The masks were used extensively by U.S. soldiers in World War I.
Morgan also greatly helped traffic safety. After witnessing a collision between an automobile and a horse-drawn carriage, he invented an automatic traffic signal, the basis for today's modern systems. These are much needed in view of the fact that there are more than 178- million cars, trucks and buses on the nation's highways.
This profile is adapted from Profile America, a radio series produced by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2004.
