The History Center is proud to present Celebrating African American Inventors & Innovators, a collection of 32 brief biographies. Some of these trailblazers lived long ago, and some are still working among us. Some grew up in Central Florida. All used their creativity to improve the lives of Americans in every walk of life. We hope their stories inspire you to learn more about the many African American innovators throughout our history. To read their stories, click here.
Note: An earlier version of “Celebrating African American Inventors & Innovators” included a photo that was identified as Thomas Jennings, the first African American to receive a patent, in 1821. The photo appears on many websites as Thomas Jennings. Thanks to a History Center volunteer, we now know that the photo is actually of Paul Bogle (ca. 1822-1865), a national hero of Jamaica. We apologize for the error.
