Five Notable Inventors

by Wade Hudson

illustrated by Ron Garnett

Hello Reader! Level 4

Summary

This leveled book, in the Great Black Heroes series, gives a brief synopsis of the lives of Madam C.J. Walker, Elijah McCoy, Garrett A. Morgan, Granville T. Woods, and Jan Ernst Matzeliger. Jan Ernst Mateliger, a mixed man who grew up in the 1860s, made great contributions to the production of shoes. He grew up in South America and became a seaman and traveled to the United States. By the time he arrived slavery had been abolished ten years prior, but Jan could only find work as a shoemaker. He learned about the different machines that made shoes, but one machine was missing; there was no machine to connect the upper part of the shoe to the insole. Jan set out to create this machine, and he succeeded with money from financers. Eventually many factories wanted Jan's invention, and he made much money but he as a person was nearly forgotten. Elijah McCoy was born in 1843 in Canada, as his parents had fled the United States in order to ensure good education for their children. He went to school in Scotland to learn drafting, and he moved to Michigan, accepting a job as a fireman and oilman for the railroad. The job made him think that he could create a better way to keep the train parts lubricated. He invented the lubricating cup, and initially the railroad companies didn't believe that it would work, but it did. Granville T. Woods was born in 1856, and he made great contributions to this country. He invented such things as a new telephone transmitter, special tracks for motor cars to run on, a way to speak into a telegraph machine,an incubator, and an electrical overhead system to run trains. Madam C.J. Walker was born in 1867, and her inventions stemmed from her problems. Her hair began to fall out so she developed hair growing products. She started her own company and by the time she died over 25,000 people were working for her company. Garrett A. Morgan, born 1877, rushed into a tunnel to help some in it trapped with masks on their faces to protect them. He was first acknowledged for his courage, and then acknowledged for his mask, which he named the gas inhalator.

Discussion

I found this to be a very informative and good book for children becoming independent readers. I would especially recommend it for African-Americans, as it may teach them things they did not previously know and give them pride, as many books focus on Caucasian inventors. When reading this I learned about five new inventors I had never heard of, and I even learned that Woods was compared to Thomas Edison, and Edison has been given credit for some of the things that Woods invented. I think that books that address little known information in a way that children can read it independently for the first time is great for them. In a class if this were a read aloud, it could be used when discussing any of the topics, as well as during Black History Month.

Hudson, W. (1995). Five Notable Inventors, Great Black Heroes. New York: Scholastic.