BHS Day 14: Granville T. Woods

Hi! You're probably noticing that this entire week of posts is going up quite off-schedule, and I apologize. This wasn't the greatest week for either my life or my health, as both were on the decline. LOL I started to feel a bit better by Thursday evening, but I'm nowhere near 100% just yet. The month is officially winding down, so I didn't want to waste any more time. This week in the Technology Spotlight, we're going to be focusing on inventions, something I wish I'd been able to talk more about this month. Maybe next year, if I decide to do this again. On to the Spotlight!

Source

Name: Granville T. Woods, 1856-1910

Profession: Inventor

Why is the Spotlight on him today? For his contributions to various industries through the inventions he patented, all of which opened the door for future progression in the field

Accomplishments:

--Created an improved telephone transmitter

--Created an improved system for railroad brakes

--Was one of several inventors who patented the concept of using a rail powered by electricity to pull and move trains forward, which helped open the door for the future invention of the electric street car

--Created a telegraph system for trains to communicate with each other in-route to prevent collisions or warn of dangers on the tracks, which is known today as the block system

--Created steam boilers for trains

--In total, received over 50 patents for his inventions

--Formed his own company, the Woods Electric Company

--Won two patent suits against Thomas Edison, who'd tried to lay claim to Woods' patents

--Was able to sell his inventions to major companies who would later use those inventions to further their businesses. The main companies he sold to were American Bell Telephone, which is known today as AT&T, General Electric Company, or GE, and Westinghouse Air Brake Company, which later merged with MotivePowers Inc. to form Wabtec Corporation. 

Further reading links: 

Scholastic | Biography

Reading about Black inventors has always intrigued me, partially because the concept of a new invention (especially in this day and age, where hardly anything can be considered 'original'), and partially because it's just surprising how many of these inventions are still in use today. It always makes me chuckle when I think of racists, who can't stand us for who we are, what we look like and what we do, buying and using things that one of us invented and not even knowing it. I also love reading about Black inventors because these things show the capability and innate intelligence of the human mind, because many inventions were created during a time where many Blacks were uneducated and everyone had written them off as stupid. It's a nice piece of motivation in a general sense because even though there may be a book in front of you, it doesn't guarantee you're going to learn anything from it. On the flip side, even if there isn't a book in front of you, it doesn't guarantee that you won't learn anything. It doesn't mean your mind won't seek to educate itself and I think that's something everyone should always aspire to do. But I've blabbed long enough. I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you tomorrow!