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Found 51 Stories
Cover of American Independent Inventors in an Era of Corporate R&D
Lemelson Center Books

American Independent Inventors in an Era of Corporate R&D

How America's individual inventors persisted alongside corporate R&D labs as an important source of inventions. Published in the Lemelson Center Studies in Invention and Innovation book series with MIT Press.

Collage of images of Black inventors, including Madam CJ Walker
Symposia & Conferences

Black Inventors and Innovators: New Perspectives

The Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation webinar series drew renewed attention to historic and contemporary inventors of color and Black technology consumers, while discussing strategies for building a more equitable innovation ecosystem.

Orange box with words Who Gets to Be an Inventor
Invention Stories

Diverse Voices: Women Inventors

Throughout American history, women with diverse backgrounds and interests created inventions that change our lives every day.

Informal pose of Tahira Reid Smith, arms folded
Blog

Game Changers Inventor Spotlight: Tahira Reid Smith

Engineering professor Dr. Tahira Reid Smith has been inventive since childhood and is best known for her automated double-Dutch jump rope machine.

Metal patent model for Verea calculating machine
Blog

Signposts to Diverse Stories of Invention

Museum objects reveal unexpected stories about diverse inventions—and inventors.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar signing his book for a young boy
Beyond Words

Innovative Lives: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar also writes books about invention for kids.

Article from The Woman Inventor, 1890, titled “Colored Woman Inventor,” with the story of Ellen Eglin who invented a clothes-wringer but was afraid that white women would not buy the wringer if they knew it had been invented by an African American woman. Eglin sold her invention to an agent for $18 in 1888 and made no further profit from it.
Blog

Who Invents and Who Gets the Credit?

The complex story of an African American woman inventor, hidden behind a simple clothes wringer.

Patricia Bath stands amongst a group of students during a Lemelson Center Innovative Lives program in 2000.
Blog

Remembering Dr. Patricia Bath

Pathbreaker, physician, educator, role model, and inventor of the Laserphaco Probe for the treatment of cataracts.

Advertising image showing inventor Garthen Leslie holding the Aros air conditioner that he invented. He stands against a backdrop of blueprint-type sketches for the air conditioner. A cut-out of a polar bear wearing a red scarf is at his feet.
Blog

A Cool Story About A/C Inventor Garthen Leslie

Working with Quirky and GE, Garthen Leslie invented the Aros smart air conditioner.

Cropped studio portrait photo of Lewis Howard Latimer, 1882.
Blog

Lost Histories of African American Inventors

In a book written especially for kids, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar shares fascinating stories you probably don't know about 16 historical and contemporary African American inventors.

Cover of book Awesome Dawson by Chris Gall
Blog

Inventive Summer Reading for Kids

Summer's here and the reading is . . . inventive!

Lonnie Johnson with Super Soaker and Nerf toys
Blog

Meet Lonnie Johnson, the Man Behind the Super Soaker

Get to know engineer Lonnie Johnson, founder and president of Johnson Research and Development Co., who invented the wildly-popular Super Soaker water gun, worked on high-performance Nerf dart guns, and focuses today on inventions related to clean energy.

Richmond attorney Giles B. Jackson (1853-1924), director-general of the Negro Development and Exposition Company (NDEC) and the visionary behind the Jamestown Tercentennial Exposition’s Negro Building.
Blog

An Early Attempt to Build a “National Museum for Colored People”

The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture was 100 years in the making, with the first formal calls for such a museum beginning in 1916.

Margaret Knight’s patent model for an improved paper bag making machine shows 2 sets of 3 gears attached by articulated arms and springs to a wooden frame and horizontal bed where the paper is moved through the bag making process.
Blog

America Participates in Innovation – 1800s

In this post, I’ll describe how the democratic features of the United States Patent System enticed a broad spectrum of the American population to become inventors in the 19th century.

Invention Stories

Voting for All

Dr. Juan Gilbert is an inventor working to making voting accessible to all.

Little Benny and the Masters (Rory "DC" Felton on saxophone and MeShell Ndegeocello on bass) at the Metro Club, 1986. Photograph by Thomas Sayers Ellis, used with permission.
Places of Invention

Go-Go, the Funky, Percussive Music Invented in Washington, D.C.

Go-go music--known for its syncopated beats and pioneered by Chuck Brown--was born in D.C. in the 1970s. Here's its story.

Vending machine potato chip options.
Invention Stories

Potato Chip Inventions

Today they come in all flavors—salt and vinegar to prawn and ham. Here's the story behind the potato chip.

Boys, possibly from Herron Hill School, playing brass instruments on steps, circa 1938-€“1945. - See more at: http://blog.invention.smithsonian.org/2013/04/04/innovating-jazz-the-pittsburgh-sound/#sthash.bObbx9Ss.dpuf
Places of Invention

Innovating Jazz: The Pittsburgh Sound

Our Affiliate partner in Pittsburgh is investigating how the city's geography, community, and networks shaped their distinctive jazz sound for the "Places of Invention" project.

Invention Stories

Michael Jackson, Patented Inventor?

While the moonwalk is not actually a patented dance move, musician Michael Jackson does indeed hold a patent.

Places of Invention

Revolutionary Invention: Hip-Hop and the PC

What do hip-hop music and personal computers have in common? They were both children of the turbulent 1970s, born to innovative people who, building on inventive skills and technologies, nurtured them through creativity, collaboration, risk taking, problem solving, flexibility, and hard work.

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