Celebrating Black History Month: Engineering Pioneers

In continuing to celebrate Black History Month we honor Black Americans and their contribution to engineering. 

Known as the “Black Edison”, Granville T. Woods held over 150 patents on electro-mechanical devices that he sold to American Bell Telephone and General Electric. In 1872, Woods first started off as a fireman, but then later started pursuing his dreams as an engineer. Woods worked at many places including the Danville and Southern Railroad in Missouri and the British steamship “Ironsides”. After two years working on the “Ironsides” he was promoted to the ship’s chief engineer. As a Black man, he often endured a lot of hurdles and discrimination in the workplace. As a result, in 1880 he established his own machine shop, Woods Electrical Company. Wood's work included inventing the first electric railway that was powered with electrical lines and  creating the first telegraph service that allowed messages to be sent from moving trains. He was also the first Black American mechanical and electrical engineer after the Civil War. 

Walter L. Hawkins helped make universal telephone communication feasible by developing durable plastic (polymer) to cover the exterior of exposed wires. Hawkins graduated from Howard University with an M.S in Chemical Engineering. Later, he received a PhD from McGill University. In 1942 he started working at Bell Laboratories. While working there, he was able to obtain 14 patents. Hawkins’ contributions include developing synthetic substitutes for rubber during World War II, designing a lab test to predict the durability of a plastic surface using spectroscopy, and  extending the lifespan of plastic substances by helping to create new techniques for recycling and reusing plastics. Gooo Hawkins!

Born August 15th, 1919, in Bronx, New York, John Stanley Ford became the first Black Software Engineer in America. In 1944, he graduated from the U.S. Army Officers Candidate School and served as a first lieutenant in the 369th Battalion in World War II. Two years later he obtained a Bachelor’s degree from the City College of New York. In 1955, he later received a Master’s degree in Business Administration from New York University. In 1947, one of the most memorable moments in Ford’s life took place. While attending a dinner party, Ford left such a wonderful impression on Thomas J. Watson, CEO and Chairman of IBM, he decided to offer a job to Ford, making him the first black software engineer not only at IBM, but in the United States of America. Throughout his career, John Stanley Ford has received several awards for contributions to the software engineering industry. 

Fleeing from slavery, Elijah McCoy was born in Canada on May 2nd 1843.  McCoy spent most of his teenage years in Scotland where he trained as an electrical engineer. Later, he  came back to the States where finding a job as a Black man was really hard. It was when he started working at a railroad, he became the  first Black engineer to invent a lubricating cup that distributed oil evenly over the engine's moving parts. By obtaining a patent for this invention, he allowed trains to run continuously for long periods of time without pausing for maintenance, thus making reliable train service possible. Nevertheless, many tried to copy his design with disappointing results, leading to the expression “the real McCoy.”

Aprille Ericsson-Jackson, PhD, is considered "instrumental in NASA's growth." Her love of science began as a child, when she watched the Apollo missions on TV in the first grade, then built her first science instrument in the 8th grade - where she also won second place in a science fair. Dr. Ericsson-Jackson earned her B.S. in Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering in 1986 from MIT, an M.S. in Engineering from Howard University, and became the first Black woman to earn a PhD from both Howard University and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Mechanical Engineering and Engineering respectively.

Mae Jemison, MD, is a physician, and the first Black woman to become an astronaut. During high school she became interested in biomedical engineering, and at the age of 16 Dr. Jemison studied chemical engineering at Stanford University. In 1988 she completed her training as a missions specialist for NASA, and eventually became an astronaut office representative at Cape Canaveral, Florida, where her role was to verify space shuttle software and process them for launching. Her first space flight was in September 1992 for a week-long mission. She was the only Black female astronaut, and upon her return, she created the Jemison Group to build and market advanced technologies.

Let us know which other Engineering pioneers you think we should highlight, below in the comments!