Garrett A. Morgan
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Garrett A. Morgan

Born March 4, 1877

Paris, Kentucky

The Morgan traffic signal was a T-shaped pole unit that featured three hand-cranked positions: Stop, Go and an all-directional stop position. This third position halted traffic in all directions to allow pedestrians to cross streets more safely.[9] Its one advantage over others of its type was the ability to operate it from a distance using a mechanical linkage. Morgan sold the rights to his traffic signal to the General Electric Corporation for $40,000.

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Personal Bio

African-AmericanInventos.org
Garrett A. Morgan was born on March 4, 1877 in Paris, Kentucky to former slaves Sydney Morgan and Elizabeth (Reed) Morgan.[2] The seventh of eleven children, he spent his childhood attending school and working with his brothers and sisters on the family farm. When he was fourteen, he moved north to Cincinnati, Ohio, in search of employment.[2] Morgan spent most of his teenage years working as a handyman for a wealthy Cincinnati landowner. Like many African-Americans of his day, Morgan had to quit school at a young age, in order to work. However, the teen-aged Morgan hired his own tutor, and continued his studies while living in Cincinnati. In 1895, Morgan moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he worked as a sewing machine repairman for a clothing manufacturer. He married Madge Nelson in 1896, but the marriage ended in divorce. News of his skill at fixing things and experimenting spread quickly throughout Cleveland. In 1907, Morgan opened his own sewing machine and repair shop. It was the first of several businesses he would own. In 1909, he expanded his business to include a tailoring shop. The company made coats, suits, dresses, etc. - all sewn with equipment that Morgan himself had made. Morgan experimented with a liquid that gave sewing machine needles a high polish and prevented the needle from scorching fabric, as it sewed. Accidentally, Morgan discovered that this liquid not only straightened fabric but also hair. He made the liquid into a cream and began the G.A. Morgan Hair Refining Company. Morgan also made a black hair oil dye and a curved-tooth Iron comb in 1910, to straighten hair.

Cited: inventors.about.com