Written by: Matt Moldovanyi

Associate Attorney

Can you imagine driving today without the traffic light? Well, due to the ingenuity and hard work of Cleveland inventor Garrett Augustus Morgan, you don’t have to. Before Morgan, traffic signals only had two positions: stop and go. After witnessing an accident between a car and a horse-drawn cart in 1922, Morgan expanded on the current traffic light by adding a “yield” component to warn motorists when an impending stop is coming.

Even though Morgan had to quit school at a young age to work full-time, he was a prolific inventor and created multiple devices still used today in addition to the three-light traffic light. For instance, after a fire tore through a clothing company, Morgan was inspired to create a safety hood device, a precursor to the gas mask. Not but a few years later, Morgan was called upon by the city of Cleveland to rescue several men trapped below Lake Erie after striking an explosive pocket and surrounding them with carbon monoxide. Morgan and his brother, with their safety hoods, descended into the tunnel and rescued multiple workers.

Morgan was not the only African-American inventor in Ohio, Granville Woods created multiple inventions used on trains and streetcars. In 1887, he patented a Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph that allowed communication between train stations and moving trains. Wood’s telegraph increased the speed at which people communicated while also decreasing the number of railroad accidents and other crucial errors.

Ohio native, Sarah E. Goode was the first African American woman to receive a U.S. patent. Goode designed a special bed that could be folded out at night to form a bed and during the day could be folded up to form a desk patented in 1885. This type of bed was helpful for customers who lived in small apartments in the big city and led to future furniture such as the Murphy bed.

Another Ohio native, Janet Emerson Bashen is the first African American woman to hold a software patent. Bashen created a software, LinkLine (now known as Nalikah), that made it easier to make and track equal employment opportunity claims.

George Robert Carruthers invented and patented the "Image Converter for Detecting Electromagnetic Radiation Especially in Short Wave Lengths." During a 1970 rocket flight, Carruthers's invention provided the first proof of the existence of molecular hydrogen in interstellar space and was used during the first lunar walk of the Apollo 16 mission in 1972.

Renner Otto applauds the accomplishments of all inventors; diversity, equality, and inclusion benefit us all and we would love to work with you to bring your bright idea to fruition and protect it. Contact us to learn more.