african american inventors

As a kid, Lonnie Johnson liked to invent things. He often faced prejudice as an African American growing up in the segregated southern United States, but he eventually became an engineer for the US Air Force and NASA. He was working on a different invention when he came up with the idea for a new type of water gun. Johnson knew his toy was more powerful than other squirt guns---he just needed to find a way to make the Super Soaker available to kids all over the country. Learn how Johnson overcame many challenges to become a brilliant engineer and inventor.

A biography of Lonnie Johnson, an engineer at NASA who is best know for inventing the Super Soaker water gun.

A biography of the Canadian-born black American who studied engineering in Scotland and patented over fifty inventions despite the obstacles he faced because of his race.

Lonnie Johnson was always building things. As a kid he made rockets. As a teenager he built a robot from scratch. As an adult he worked for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on the Galileo orbiter and probe that studied Jupiter. And then one day, while hooking up his latest invention to the bathroom sink to test it out...WHOOSH! Meet the innovative engineer who unexpectedly invented one of the most popular toys of all time - the Super Soaker.

In 1911, 146 workers died in the shocking Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City. Morgan decided to invent a safety hood for firefighters-- but people weren't interested in buying his safety hood when they discovered its inventor was black. When an explosion trapped workers in a tunnel under Lake Erie in 1916, his hoods were rushed to the scene and used to rescue as many men as possible. Developed further, Garrett's invention came to save thousands of soldiers from chlorine gas in the trenches of World War I.

Presents a biography of African American inventor Garrett Morgan, covering his childhood, his adult years, and some of his most well-known inventions. Includes a glossary, a list of additional resources, and critical thinking questions using the Common Core.

Throughout recent centuries and perhaps never more so than today brilliant and dedicated creative people of African heritage are helping to make our world better and safer with their inventions.

Shares the inspirational story of African-American inventor Garrett Morgan, whose incredible safety hood became a forerunner to the gas masks that saved thousands of soldiers during World War I.

Presents a biography of African American inventor Garrett Morgan, covering his childhood, his adult years, and some of his most well-known inventions. Includes a glossary, a list of additional resources, and critical thinking questions using the Common Core.

Biographical material on eighteen black Americans who made significant contributions to science and technology in America during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.