NOV. 25,1998
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The Curtain Rises On Black Inventors
(Slightly) IV
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T hank Y ou F or R eading I
We left o ff with that shocker; The
most successful and world famous
p ro d u c t o f the W e stin g h o u se
Airbrake Company was the ‘Auto
matic’ Air Brake that was patented
and sold to them by Granville T.
Woods, the prolific black electrical
genius (N o.701,981, June 10,1902).
And we begin this week with the
entrance o f yet another amazing black
inventor on this often-hidden stage.
Andrew J. Beard, a railroad yard
worker in Eastlake, Alabama, grew
concerned over the number o f fellow
workers who were losing lives and
limbs when they stepped between
moving freight cars to insert a ‘cou
pling pin’.
That History Channel documen-
L e tte r The Editor:
W hen congress reconvenes in
January, one item again on its agenda
will be a bill which would impose a
national “no-fault” insurance sys
tem, allegedly to foster competition
in the insurance industry and lower
the cost o f automobile insurance. In
truth, the so-called “Auto-Choice
Reform A ct” is extraordinarily anti
consumer and is highly unlikely to
result in lower premiums. The bill is
opposed by diverse groups consist
ing o f consumer advocates and state
insurance regulators.
Under the proposed legislative
scheme, many injured people would
lose the right to seek compensation
for permanent injury from the party
tary to which I ’ ve referred to here as
a groundbreaker in its revelations
concerning African American inven
tors - even at two out o f thousands -
failed to give black inventor Beard his
due as the inventor o f the world fa
mous “Jenny Coupler” as it was
known by its colloquial name. This
' automatic ’ railcar coupler invention
was improperly assigned to another.
In my book, “Black Inventors of
America” I show a photostat o f one
o f the most interesting patents ever
granted.
There is a lull-page display o f this
life-saving innovation by an Alabama
laborer: A.J. Beard, Car Coupling,
Patented Nov. 23, 1897. At the end
o f the detailed description, we find
the signatures o f the witnesses, and
immediately above we have, “Andre
J. (X, his mark) Beard. In other words,
our inspired hero to railroad workers
all over the world was “Illiterate.”
It would do well to reiterate here
how important the many thousands
o f African American invention were
- not just to the economy, but to the
welfare and safety o f all, at work, at
play and especially when traveling.
And more over has influenced the
development and structure o f our
laws.
The “Automatic RailcarCoupler”
was the focal point o f the “Federal
Safety Appliance Act”, which Con
gress enacted at the turn o f the cen
tury. This act made it unlawful for a
railroad to supply cars which did not
couple automatically on impact.
So important was this invention to
the development o f America’s huge
railroad complexes (which supported
a burgeoning industrial society) that
in 1908, Congress took an additional
step by p a ssin g the “ F ed eral
Employer’s Liability Act. This legis
lation gave railroad employees the
right to sue in Federal Court when
injuries were caused by equipment.
Let me put an end to one area o f
wonder and speculation. A question
that frequently arose many years ago
when I was on lecture tours around
the country - today I still get, “How
did you know the inventors were
black?”
In 1908, the assistant Examiner of
Patents was a black man, Howard
Baker, In those days, many inventors
were still distrustful o f the mail and
the system in general, so consequently
they delivered models o f their inven
tions in person (The Smithsonian
Museum has thousands o f examples).
Mr. Baker noted, quite surprisingly,
that many o f these visitors to the
Patent Office in W ashington, D.C.
were African Americans.
Baker put his curiosity to a test.
He wrote every patent attorney in
the country with the inquiry, “have
you ever filed a patent for a black
man or woman? The thousands o f
replies in the affirm ative’ led to
establishment o f the “ Mooreland
Collection o f A frican Am erican
Patents” as part o f the Howard Uni
versity Library.
When I first inspected this data
bank o f African American genius, I
wanted to cry as the terrible truth
sunk in. Generations o f both blacks
and whites whose minds and ambi
tions were formed and matured in a
mental prison closely guarded by
media, publishers, education estab
lishment and Hollywood, Blacks not
allowed to know who they were.
Cont’d next week.
at fault. In turn, drivers who negli
gently or even recklessly cause ac
cidents will be immune from re
sponsibility for such harm, for ex
ample, causing the death o f a child.
This is nothing more than the tired
and unfair concept o f no-fault in
surance, w hich has been repeat
edly rejected by most states since
the idea first appeared in the 1970’s.
No fault insurance does not fairly
c o m p e n sa te s e rio u s ly in ju re d
people and flies in the face o f our
w ell-placed beliefs in personal re-
sponsibility.
N othing in the proposed legisla
tion w ould require insurance com
panies to reduce prem ium s for any
one. The truth is that o f the ten
states with the most expensive au
tom obile insurance, eight have no
fault insurance. W hen Connecticut
repealed its no-fault law in 1994,
insurance rates actually dropped
9.7% the first year after the repeal
w ent into effect. In G eorgia, a 6%
drop was seen.
If Congress truly wants to in-
crease competition in the insur
ance industry, perhaps it should
consider eliminating the industry’s
exemption from the anti-trust laws
that apply to every other business,
instead o f trying to force O rego
nians to adopt a scheme that vot
ers in other states have repeatedly
rejected when given the opportu
nity.
Sincerely,
Todd A. Bradley
re
What Is Education, What
is Technology?
B y P rof . M c K inley B urt
T h e re a re m a n y , m a n y r e s i
d e n ts o f N o r th e a s t an d N o rth
P o rtla n d w h o a re to b e c o n
g ra tu la te d fo r th a t “ h ard w o rk
a n d d e d ic a tio n to ta s k ” c ite d
la s t w e e k as p r e r e q u is ite s fo r
s u c c e s s f u l e d u c a tio n e x p e r i
en ces.
A n d w e c a n sp e a k o f th e ir
m o u n tin g fru stra tio n w h en a f
te r y e a rs o f c o m m itm e n t an d
e n e rg ie s d e v o te d to th e s u p
p o r tin g a c tiv itie s w h ic h p r o
d u c e d th e s u p e rb s c ie n c e an d
te c h n o lo g y p ro je c ts m a ste re d
b y b la c k k id s (N o v . 4 ) - th e
m e d ia , p r in t an d e le c tr o n ic ,
f e a tu re s o n ly th o se h ig h - p r o
f ile , s o p h is tic a te d p r o je c ts o f
w h ite s tu d e n ts .
“ It is h e a r tb r e a k in g ” c ry
o u t d e d ic a te d in n e r c ity p a r
e n ts , a few te a c h e r s a n d p u
p ils w ho k n o w v e ry w e ll w h a t
th is m e a n s in te rm s o f lo s t
o p p o r tu n itie s fo r m o tiv a tio n
an d c a re e r d ire c tio n . C u r r ic u
lum c h o ic e s m u st be m ad e
e a rly on an d n o t o n ly is it th e
c a se th a t y o u n g b la c k p u p ils
a re d e n ie d m e a n in g fu l ro le
m o d e ls , b u t w e fin d so m e
c o u n s e lo r s d e lib e r a te ly d i
re c tin g th em a w a y fro m s u b
je c t th a t p re p a re o n e fo r s c i
e n c e , an d te c h n o lo g y .
E s p e c i a l l y to b e c o m
m e n d e d a re th o se p e r c e p tiv e
a n d e n e r g e tic p a r e n ts w h o
sa y th e y h a v e re c e iv e d m o re
th a n a h in t th a t an y id e a o f a
c e n tra l b la c k c o m m u n ity o f
“ y e s te r d a y ” w ith its s u p p o rt
m e c h a n ism s m ay h a v e to be
fo rg o tte n . C itin g th e c i t y ’s
h o u s in g p o lic ie s an d e v e n th e
s c a tte rin g p a tte rn o f “ S e c tio n
s ’’ re n ta ls - all in c o n ju n c tio n
w ith a re n e w e d an d v ig o ro u s
r e g e n trific a tio n o f c e n tra l
N o rth e a s t - th e se p a re n ts h av e
b e c o m e “ te c h n o lo g y m o m s ”
ra th e r than “ so ccer m om s” . A nd
th e y h it the su b u rb s.
T h e y sta y b u sy p ic k in g up
an d d e liv e rin g b la c k k id s to
“ sa fe h a v e n s ” w h e re th e y can
s tu d y a n d le a r n w ith p e e r
g ro u p s , and be in tro d u c e d to
p r o g r e s s i v e r o le m o d e ls . I
fo u n d g re a t s a tis fa c tio n in th a t
s e v e ra l o f th e se a c tiv itie s w e re
e x te n s io n s o f p ro je c ts 1 s u g
g e s te d e a r lie r th is y e a r; th a t
y o u th sc ie n c e c lu b s b e b u ilt
a ro u n d g re a t A fric a n A m e ric a n
e n g in e e rs and s c ie n tis ts as ro le
m o d els.
S e v e ra l e x a m p le s a re b e in g
f e a t u r e d th is m o n th in m y
w e e k ly “ P e r s p e c tiv e s ” c o lu m n
on p a g e 4; G r a n v ille W o o d s
( 'W e s t i n g h o u s e ’ A ir B r a k e ,
T h ird R a il, R a ilw a y T e le g ra p h ,
e t c . ) a n d H o w a r d L e w is
L a tim e r (P a te n te d th e c a rb o n
lig h t b u lb f ila m e n t th a t m ad e
E d is o n ’s lig h t b u lb p r a c tic a l) .
T h e P o r tla n d o b s e r v e r f e a
tu r e d a n u m b e r o f h a lf-p a g e
s p r e a d s on b la c k c o n tr ib u to r s
to th e w o rld s te c h n o lo g y . T h is
w a s d u r i n g B la c k H i s t o r y
M o n th an d m a n y p a re n ts and
te a c h e r s sa y th a t th is w as a
re a l m o tiv a to r a n d in s p ir a tio n
to s tu d e n ts .
Last w e e k ’s m essa g e about
the “ inform ation g lu t” seem s
to have been w e ll taken; e sp e
c ia lly w here w e quote C lifford
S to ll, th e o n c e c h ie f g u ru o f
th e
In te rn e t:
M a s s iv e
a m o u n ts o f u n s o rte d , u n tr u s t
w orthy in fo rm a tio n dum p ed in
y o u r lap - and th e a m o u n t o f
is o la tio n it c a n b r in g .” S o rt it
out!
In a d d itio n to an a lre a d y
b u rd e n so m e b u t n e c e ssa ry
‘sc h o o l d is tr ic t w a tc h ’, p a r
e n ts an d s tu d e n ts fin d th a t
th e y h a v e to d e a l w ith new
c o n c e rn s. T he G E D (G e n e ra l
E d u c a tio n D e v e lo p m e n t T e st)
is b e c o m in g o f in c r e a s in g
c o n c e rn to e m p lo y e rs . A nd
th ey h av e to c o n s id e r th a t th is
c o in c id e s w ith in c re a s e d e m
p h a sis on “ P r o fic ie n c y -b a s e d
A d m is s io n S ta n d a r d s S y s
te m s”
E v e ry y e a r o v e r h a lf a m il
lion peo p le earn th e ir G ED c er
tif ic a te , b u t the sc h o o l reform
m o v e m e n t is r a is in g the r e
q u ire m e n ts fo r h ig h sc h o o l
g ra d u a tio n a c ro s s th e c o u n
try . E m p lo y e rs , c o lle g e s and
m ilita ry re c ru ite rs p re fe r high
s c h o o l g r a d u a t e s to G E D
h o ld e rs . P a re n ts a n d te a c h e rs
a lik e a re m o u n tin g ev en
g re a te r e f f o r t to d is c o u ra g e
d ro p p in g o u t. T h is is so v ery
im p o rta n t.
M any re a d e rs say that our
o rig in al q u e stio n m ay be m oot
(W hat Is E d u catio n , W hat Is
T ech n o lo g y ). “ W e m ay have to
play th is system by ear as it
slow ly d e fin e s itself. W e like
y o u r c h o ic e o f H u m p ty
D u m p ty ’ s p r o n o u n c e m e n t,
“T hings are w hat I say they are’.
Is the e n tire next cen tu ry to be
like th is ? .” W ho really know s.
Just think: 'four son
is b rig h t, h e a lth y
a n d h e a d e d fo r
college one day fo u
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