Granville T. Woods
By Susan Robinson
The great inventor Granville T. Woods was born on April 23, 1856, in Columbus, Ohio. He was only able to attend school until the age of ten, but he went out of his way to keep learning all his life. He became known around the world as the "Black Thomas Edison" for his many successful inventions.
After leaving elementary school, the young Granville Woods became an apprentice in a machine shop, repairing railroad equipment. He independently studied how the machinery worked and paid other workers to teach him about how electricity was utilized to power it. He then found employment as a fireman on D & S Railroads in Missouri, and advanced to the position of engineer. Later, he accepted other positions in mills and machine shops, spending his spare time studying mechanical engineering and electricity. He had to send friends to check out library books for him; African Americans were not allowed to use the libraries.
In 1878 Woods became an engineer on the British steamer, Ironsides. He was promoted to Chief Engineer two years later. Even so, in this, and all his pervious jobs, he found that despite his skill and talent, he would only get to some point and would not be allowed to advance further because of racial discrimination.
In 1884, Woods started his own company with his brother Lyates. They called it the Woods Railway Telegraph Co., and it made electrical telephone and telegraph equipment for the railway industry. An improved boiler furnace was one of their first inventions. American Bell Telephone bought another invention called "telegraphony," which allowed telegraph stations to send both voice messages and ordinary telegraph messages over the same wire.
In 1887 Woods invented the Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph, a major breakthrough which greatly reduced railway accidents by allowing dispatchers to communicate with moving trains. This was the first time train operators had been able to give and receive information about their location that could be immediately passed on to other moving trains. This invention saved countless lives.
Sometimes inventors sue each other, each claiming that they had invented an item first. Thomas Edison sued Granville Woods twice and lost in court both times when Woods proved that his inventions were original and had been created independently of any influence from Edison's devices. After that the Edison Company made Woods a handsome offer for employment with their company, but Woods declined, preferring to remain independent.
Granville T. Woods went on to make advances in the design of air brakes and to invent an electric incubator that was a direct predecessor to the ones used today to incubate thousands of eggs at a time. He also developed the concept of a "third rail" to provide trains with more electricity with less friction. These third rails are widely used in subway systems today, such as the Bay Area Rapid Transit.
Woods' inventions were purchased by large corporations such as General Electric and Westinghouse. He had over 60 patents for his inventions by the time he died in 1910. By then, he was a highly respected inventor with a world-wide reputation.
Granville T. Woods overcame many obstacles related to being an African
American genius at a time when most African Americans could not even obtain
a basic education. He refused to sell out to the big corporations with
their race-based discrimination, and instead he lived his dream. His accomplishments
helped move America into the modern world.[]
Republished 4/18/05
