Underrepresentation and Invisibility
Panelists
Lisa D. Cook
Professor of Economics and International Relations, Michigan State University
Rayvon Fouché
Professor of American Studies, Purdue University
Moderator
Cathleen S. Lewis
Curator, Space History Department, National Air and Space Museum
What comes to mind when we think of a Black inventor? Typically, we think of the superlatives—that list of “top ten Black inventors” that gets revisited every February for Black History Month.
As participants in the first webinar session observed, however, this list is not comprehensive; and even those who make the cut do not always fit the traditional definition of an inventor as the recipient of a patent. In the early 1900s, Henry E. Baker assembled one of the first lists of Black patentees, a monumental endeavor that marked just the beginning of a larger retrieval effort that continues to this day. Black inventors remain underrepresented in historical narratives and in today’s innovation economy, with centuries of oppression and prejudice obscuring their contributions. Speakers in this session explored the Black innovation gap, offered insights into how we define “inventor” and “innovation,” and discussed strategies for retrieving and sharing the untold stories of Black invention—stories that challenge conventional assumptions about what it means to be an inventor in America.
Panelist Rayvon Fouché shared his perspectives on this retrieval effort, arguing that we need broader definitions of invention to record American innovation narratives with more accuracy and narrow the Black innovation gap. How can we redefine invention and innovation to create a more equitable narrative about past invention, a narrative that includes the effects of slavery? To begin with, he argued, creation does not always result in a patent. Patents comprise one measure of invention and innovation—an important measure, but not the only one. Fouché noted that capitalistic, often Eurocentric, proponents of invention have prioritized efficiency, improvement, dominion, and power, often overlooking those forms of invention that do not receive patents and that prioritize art, expression, morality, or spirituality. These latter creations are greatly needed, however, for they take seriously the potentially negative impacts of new technology and new materials on marginalized peoples and the environment. Such creativity persists well beyond the patent office, Fouché added, noting that before the Civil War, enslaved peoples were excluded from the patent system altogether, as seen in the case of the enslaved blacksmith Ned and his double cotton scraper invention.
Fouché shared historical examples of the struggle for Black invention, including the stories of Granville T. Woods (designer of railway locomotion devices), Shelby Davidson (inventor of adding machine devices), and Louis Latimer (who made important contributions in the manufacture of carbon filaments) (Fouché 2003). Each of these individuals has been mythologized and oversimplified in the years following his death, Fouché observed. The historian or scholar of Black invention thus faces a double challenge: he or she must demythologize the existing record of “heroic” Black inventors— revealing their individuality, faults, and humanity—while simultaneously expanding and troubling the definition of invention itself, so that more names, more stories, can be retrieved both within and beyond the patent system. The scholar of Black invention thus seeks to retrieve narratives about creativity that persist outside the patent system yet also pushes back against biases and misunderstandings of those few Black inventors whose stories areknown and recognized widely.
Those same “chosen few” also show up in conversations that Lisa Cook finds herself having about her research. Cook explained that when she tells people that she studies the economics of Black innovation, they typically assume she is writing about just three famous (and deceased) Black inventors: George Washington Carver, Garrett Morgan, and Madam C. J. Walker. Cook disabuses people of the assumption that only these three Black inventors existed and that there is little to be learned or gained from studying the patent records. Her work has shown that patent documents contain a host of information about American history and economics, including, for example, the relation between patent data and lynchings. Cook’s research has shown that a dramatic drop in Black patents beginning in 1900 correlated with rising violence against Black people (Cook 2014; Duffin and Childs 2020).
Myths about “famous” Black inventors are costly and should be debunked, she argued, because they suggest that Black invention is a thing of the past; they imply that no new archival work needs to be done; and they provide a cover or justification for permitting systemic inequities to continue in the innovation environment today. Taken together, these factors reduce invention, harm economic growth, and lower living standards for all Americans (Cook and Kongcharoen 2010; Cook and Yang 2018; Cook 2020). They also provide a disincentive for future inventors. If you tell a Black child that all the Black inventors are long deceased and there is no replacement for them, why would that child imagine becoming an inventor?
The historian who commits to changing this narrative—a task that involves retrieving, collecting, and interpreting comprehensive data on Black creativity and invention in the United States—faces significant challenges. Cook spoke candidly about her experiences in the academy, noting the misunderstandings, barriers, and condescension she has encountered both because of her subject matter and because of her race. Her work to identify more Black inventors and patent-holders has entailed years of labor that conventional university performance metrics do not always adequately measure. Someone once told her that she would never receive tenure if she focused on Black and women inventors. “Nobody is interested,” a colleague said. So how can historians committed to this field move forward? Correcting gaps in the narrative about Black inventors requires persistence; it also demands deep immersion in patent data. Locating information and stories that unfolded outside the patent office remains important, also.
In a related manner, Fouché encouraged webinar participants to expand their definition of invention so that it includes Black vernacular technological creativity (Fouché 2006). We need, he maintained, to acknowledge and highlight Black uses of technology for agency and resistance, rather than simply focusing on how the dominant White narrative—or the dominant technology of a given era—excluded or actively oppressed Black people. He gave the example of Grandmaster Flash, one of the inventors of hip-hop, who took devices designed for audio playback and remade them into musical instruments. If we can see Thomas Edison as an inventor, we should see Flash as an inventor, as well, even though Flash earned no patent. Redeploying, reconceiving, or recreating with existing materials constitutes an act of creation, Fouché argued, and warrants recognition as such.
Cook affirmed this observation, noting its importance within informal educational settings such as Spark!Lab at the Lemelson Center. Skill building in an accessible environment or informal educational space can provide support beyond the traditional classroom and can share little-told stories with children in new and different ways. After all, children who are exposed to invention and innovation are more likely to feel like they can become inventors themselves. Yet the opposite is also true: Black children—and children from low-income households in general—can become “lost Einsteins” if they fail to see examples of inventors who remind them of themselves (Bell, Chetty et al. 2019).
Myths about “famous” Black inventors are costly and should be debunked because they suggest that Black invention is a thing of the past. — Lisa D. Cook
For the historian of innovation, then, the task is not only archival and retrospective; it is also ethical and future oriented. Retrieving the stories of unknown or little-known Black inventors is “a labor of love and justice,” Fouché observed. When people say that America was born of a uniquely inventive spirit, we might ask ourselves: what do they mean by this claim? Fouché quoted from poet Gil Scott-Heron’s spoken-word poem of 1970, “I can’t pay no doctor bills but Whitey’s on the moon,” a searing commentary about what American society valued most at the time (Scott-Heron 1970). What gets invented—and what we valorize as an invention— says a great deal about who we are and what we believe in as a society.
Panelists recommended the following opportunities to create change:
- For historians or researchers interested in stories of Black invention, consider searching more broadly than the usual parameters. Dig beyond the directories; broaden patent research to include interference cases, contract disputes, and infringement cases. These are public records and can tell a story about a struggle for ownership of an idea (Cook 2014).
- Historians should also consider researching Black inventor networks. Black creators did not (and do not) work in a vacuum; they engaged with others who might have been inventors themselves. Research relationships within HBCUs; search for oral histories; contact Black churches and social/service organizations for clues and resources. Consider systematic studies to find more Black inventors—for example, by exploring geographically-based communities of invention, or the history and records of chemistry faculty members at HBCUs.
- For university deans and administrators, support Black invention and innovation by increasing funding for Black STEM faculty seeking early-career grants, which are associated with patenting. At the highest level, strategies that hold university leaders accountable for the progress of Black faculty members could serve as useful and robust incentives for positive change.
- For CEOs and business leaders, prioritizing diverse teams has been shown to produce more ideas and better results for all—which means that diversifying your team is a win-win for everyone involved (Page 2008; Hewlett, Marshall, and Sherbin 2013; Herring and Henderson 2015; Page 2018). Corporate leaders and/or state legislators would do well to hold individual firm supervisors, CEOs, and board members accountable for diversity measures and for the progress of Black team members within innovation companies. California, for example, has required that a woman serve on the board of every publicly traded company. Racial diversity expectations could similarly be put in place for boards.
- For potential inventors within the academy, find interesting people in the university—and outside it—who are willing to experiment intellectually. Find the right partners to inspire constructive collisions (dynamic collaborations and interdisciplinary learning). Build those relationships—that’s where creativity lies!
See the bibliography for sources cited above.
Circular image above: Astrophysicist George Carruthers got his start building a telescope when he was ten years old. Eventually, astronauts used his invention to take ultraviolet pictures of Earth from space for the first time.