Black Inventors Hall of Fame Showcases Contributions of Black Inventors to
American Innovation
When I attended the US Inventor first annual conference last month, I had the pleasure of meeting James
Howard, Executive Director of the Black Inventor’s Hall of Fame (BIHOF). He had a display panel
at his table that showed a collage of pictures of Black inventors. Because the breaks between sessions
were short, I didn’t have time to talk to him as long as I would have liked, so we caught up on Zoom last
week.
I told James that I had browsed every page of the Black Inventors Hall of Fame website as well as his
LinkedIn profile and was impressed with his background and experience. We share a few things in
common —we were both born in Chicago, are entrepreneurs, and have taught entrepreneurism. Of
course, James taught as a professor at the County College of Morris while I only taught teens how to
start their business in an after-school and summer camp program for a non-profit called Millennial
Entrepreneurs in the early 2000s.
Besides being an inventor himself, Mr. Howard also brings over 25 years of experience as a design
professor and has authored a course on Design Thinking and Design History that explores the impact of
design on society. His latest venture is Entrepreneurial U, Morris County’s first school of Design
Thinking.” Mr. Howard said, “I have over 20 patents, so I understand what an inventor has to go through
before finally getting their patent and a functioning model. I have had numerous patented products
succeed on the market. Most notably the AlarmLock access control lock, and the Vital Signs NeoNatal
pressure relief valve for resuscitating infants at birth.
I asked why he founded BIHOF, and he replied, “I founded BIHOF to immortalize the pioneering genius
of African American inventors for the past 400 years. We needed “to recognize and tell the story of
African American greats such as George W. Carver who in 1941 was referred to as “The Black
Leonardo” by Time Magazine for his prolific contributions in the field of agriculture. Yet, nearly 80
years later, Carver was all but ignored by Time in its list of top 100 American inventors of all time. It is
time that exceptional inventors are immortalized by being inducted into the Black Inventor's Hall of
Fame. The story of African American Inventors is a sad history of being lost or simply overlooked. Far
too often, historical accounts forget to mention the incredible achievements of Black inventors. I am
honored to have the privilege of bringing a broad and detailed awareness of the important work of
African American inventors, artists and innovators who have inspired and forged ahead against
tremendous odds and adversity.”
He added, “Every year we induct extraordinary Black inventors into the Black Inventor's Hall of Fame
to permanently recognize their innovative contributions to society. The website serves as a platform
telling the story of talented African American innovators. We include and highlight notable
advancements and projects from academia, manufacturing and agriculture to advancements in medicine
and the sciences. Our goal is to identify entrepreneurial leaders who have invented and produced
groundbreaking technological advancements that improve the quality of life around the world.”
Mr. Howard said, “What you invent you have to make before you can finalize your model. It is the
basis for innovation, and if we don’t invent, we don’t have products to be made by manufacturers.
There is a link between inventing and entrepreneurism. That is why I started my school of
entrepreneurism to help long term unemployed learn new job skills and a new way to achieve a good
life. “
He explained, “In our community, we appreciate the importance of inventing and innovation. Finding
new ways to do something or make something is woven into our DNA. However, many African
Americans have great ideas but they don’t have the benefit of having a “rich uncle” to finance their
venture. They have to try to finance it themselves, and the majority don’t succeed.”
I said I realize that there are nearly 400 inventors listed in Henry Baker’s list of Black Inventors, but this
list was published in 1894, so I wondered if he would highlight a few more recent inventors featured in
his Hall of Fame.
He responded, “I would feature Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green. She has developed a revolutionary cancer
treatment that uses lasers and nanotechnology to eliminate cancer.” Her bio states, “She is a STEM
pioneer, leader, humanitarian, and entrepreneur who is introducing the world to the next generation of
cancer treatments, cancer charities, and affordable healthcare. She is one of the nation’s leading medical
physicists and one of a short list of African American women to earn a Ph.D. in Physics. Dr. Green
developed a revolutionary cancer treatment that uses lasers and nanotechnology to eliminate cancer in
mice after only one 10-minute treatment in just 15 days with no observable side effects. To ensure the
affordability of this treatment, she founded a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, the Ora Lee Smith
Cancer Research Foundation (OraLee.org), to raise the funding for human clinical trials.”
He said he would also include the late Dr. Patricia Bath, who invented “laserphaco, a new device and
technique to remove cataracts. It performed all steps of cataract removal: making the incision,
destroying the lens and vacuuming out the fractured pieces. She is recognized as the first Black woman
physician to receive a medical patent.”
He also mentioned Lonnie G. Johnson, who is a former Air Force and NASA engineer who invented the
#1 top selling water toy of all time, the Super Soaker®. Coincidently, my husband and I had just watched
an episode of The Toys That Made America on the History channel featuring the Super Soaker®. The
show told how it took Mr. Johnson eight years to find a Toy company, Hasbro, willing to make a deal to
produce and market this toy, which has generated well over $1 billion in sales over its lifetime. The
show mentioned that Mr. Johnson's longtime research focuses on energy technology, and his toy
resulted from his work on an environmentally friendly heat pump. His bio states, “He currently holds
over 100 patents and has over 20 more pending on products and processes ranging from toys and
consumer products to advanced technology energy. He is president and founder of Johnson Research
and Development Co., Inc., a technology development company, and its spin off companies, Excellatron
Solid State, LLC; Johnson Electro- Mechanical Systems, LLC; and Johnson Real Estate Investments,
LLC.”
I told him that when I browsed the website, I saw that he is planning a museum for BIHOF, and he
replied, “Yes, we are raising money to build a museum, which we envision to be a 31,000 sq. ft. facility
with state of the art, tuition free STEAM classrooms, theater, Metaverse library, startup incubator, and a
Legends Hall featuring the top Black inventors of the Golden Era in this country. The BIHOF Museum
and STEAM Learning Center is planned to be located in New Jersey. BIHOF is a 501c3 organization, so
donations to help build the museum are tax deductible. “
I encourage everyone reading this article to consider making a donation to BIHOF so that Black
inventors will receive the recognition they deserve and future inventors will be helped to succeed in the
business incubator.
I told James that I was a managing member of a business incubator in the late 1990s and actually wrote
my first book on business incubators in 1997 after visiting and researching incubators around the
country for five years. I think the idea of having an incubator for businesses started by Black inventors
is a great idea because incubators and the new Makerspaces are very helpful in accelerating successful
businesses.
We both agreed that it is hard enough for any inventor to get a patent, raise the money to make and
market a product, or get a licensing deal, but current broken patent system makes it even harder to be
successful for both white and Black Americans. We urgently need the patent reform recommended by
US Inventors.