Garrett Morgan

Inventor of the Gas Mask, and the Automatic Traffic Signal

(1877 - 1963)

Garrett Morgan was a successful and significant inventor, entrepreneur, and respected businessman. His best known inventions, the gas mask, and the automatic traffic signal have saved countless lives.

Born in 1877 in Kentucky, Morgan left the family farm for Ohio at fourteen and soon settled in Cleveland. He worked as a sewing machine repairman, and, at the age of thirty, founded his own sewing equipment repair shop—the first of several successful businesses.

The safety helmet and gas mask Morgan invented and patented in 1912 were worn by firefighters in many cities in the early 1900s, and protected soldiers from chlorine gas during World War I. He patented his traffic signal in 1923 and later sold the technology to the General Electric Corporation.

Morgan achieved amazing success during a time when few minorities dared dream of being entrepreneurs. "A lot can be learned by minorities and women entrepreneurs from him, from the way he viewed obstacles, especially how to get around them," said John M. Hairston, Director of External Affairs for NASA Glenn, and one of the developers of the Garrett Morgan Initiative.

Hairston also stated, "During the heyday of his years as an entrepreneur and inventor, he sometimes posed as a Native American or had whites represent him in business deals, because whites often refused to talk business with a black man at that time. He was in a harsher environment, yet he faced some of the same kinds of obstacles small businesses have to endure today. But, Garrett Morgan persevered—he wasn’t deterred."

Morgan was self-motivated, and that quality served him well. A tailoring shop using sewing equipment that Morgan built, and the Cleveland Call newspaper were among his many successful ventures. Nationally, he is most recognized for his traffic signal and safety gas mask inventions. Hairston added, "Morgan’s story gives minority and women entrepreneurs an opportunity to understand the even greater successes that can be realized today, especially in a more supportive environment like the one being provided by the program that bears Morgan’s name."