Black Contributors to Science and Energy Technology. INSTITUTION Department of Energy, Washington, D.C

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 170 154 SE 027. 632

TITLE Black Contributors to Science and Energy Technology. INSTITUTION Department Of Energy, Washington, D.C. Office of Public Affairs. REPORT NO DOE-OPA-0038t79) PUB DATE 79 NOTE • 28p. '

EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESM•PTORS *Biographical Inventories; Black Achievement; *Black Lead:ershi.p; Black Role; *Energy; Minority Groups; Models; Motivation; Science Education; Sciences; *Scientists; Technlogy

ABSTRACT Presents biographical and pictorial information about 12-black scientists and inventors who were selected to serve as models,for children who have. little opportunity to learn of black contributions to science and technology, and as motivation for students who are uncertain about continuing their studies or about selecting professions. Much of their work has been in the use of energy, as in space technology, transportation, construction and many other militaryand industrial applications. (HM) Black Contributors To Science and Energy Technology Credits Biographical and pictorial information for this booklet was drawn, from many sources, including the General Electric Company, Fairfield, Conn., the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum, Philadelphia, Pa:, and the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University, Washington, D.C..Theír assistance is appreciated. Introduction

The scientists and inventors profiled who are uncertain about continuing in this booklet are only a few of the their studies or selecting. professions: Black contributors to American science and technology. Much of New generations of Black stydents their work has been energy related- are being trained in the applied if not in the development of energy sciences and engineering. As op- resources or processes, then in the portunities develop for advanced more efficient or productive use of schooling end ,careers, .Black con- energy, as in space technology, tributions should increase in number, transportation, construction, and expand iñ scope, and enhance the many other military and industrial living standards of all Americans. applications.

These researchers may well serve as models for children who have had little oppprtunity to learn of Black contributions to science and technology, and as motivation for students

Contents Page Norbert Rillieux J. Ernest Wilkins 2 Elijah McCoy 14 Rufus Stokes

LewisH. Latimer Virgil Trice 4 GranvilleWoods 16 Meredith Gourdine

Garrett A. Morgan Annie Easley Archie Alexander 18 James Harris

David Grosthwait• Caldwell McCoy Frederick M. Jones 20 Clarence Elder

Louis W. Roberts Cordell Reed, 10Kajherine Johnson 22 Donald Cotton .

Otis Boykin Ernest Coleman 12 O.S. (Ozzie) Williams 24 Lawnie Taylor Cut Costs and Energy in Refining Sugar

Automatic Machine Oiling—The Real McCoy Norbert Rillieux, 1806-1894

Norbert Rillieux revolutionized the requiring slaves to ladle boiling cane sugar industry by inventing a juice from one kettle to another to refining process that reduced- the produce a dark sugar. Rillieux time, cost, and safety risk involved designed an evaporating pan which in producing good sugar from cane enclosed a keries of condensing coils in vacuum and beets. chambers. His system took much of the hand The son of a French planter labor out of refining, saved fuel engineer , and - a slave .mother, because the juice boiled at lower Rillieux was born in New Orleans temperatures, and produced a • and educated in France, where he superior product. majored in engineering and also served as an instructor. Rillieux's device was patented in, 1846, and was in great demand on Returning to New Orleans, he plantations in Louisiana, •Mexico . noted that methods for refining and the West Indies, where it in- sugar from cane and beets were creased sugar production and crude, backbreaking and dangerous, reduced operating costs.

Elijah McCoy, 1843-1929

The lubricating cup, which made industry. McCoy established his own possible the automatic oiling of firm and obtained patents for machinery, was invented by Elijah additional inventions, such as an McCoy, the Canadian-born son of "ironing Table" and a Iawn sprinkler; runaway slaves. however, his major contribution was the lubricating cup which was to Educated in Scotland as a mechan- become so popular that persons ical engineer, McCoy settled in inspecting new equipment generally Detroit on his return to the United asked if it contained the "real States, and started experimenting "McCoy," meaning thé McCoy oiling with a cup that regulated the flow device. This helped popularize an of oil onto moving parts of American expression, meaning the machines. "real thing."

In 1872, he was granted a patent for the first automatic lubricator. No longer did machines have to be stopped 'for oiling; his new oiling device revolutionized the machine Electric-Lighting Pioneer

On the Move with Advanced Trolleys and Safer Trains Lewis H. Latimer, 1848-1928

Lewis H. Latimer, a member of In 1884, Latimer joined the Edison Thomas Edison's research team, Electric Light Company, where he made outstanding contributions to did research and, in 1890, wrote the development and commercializa- Incandescent Electric Lighting, a tion of the electric. light. book which became a guide for lighting engineers. For many years, Born in Boston, Latimer first worked he served as an expert witness in as a draftsman in a patent office. He court battles over Edison's patents. later became interested in electric At Latimer's death, the Edison lighting and began a long, productive Pioneers, of which he was a charter career in the field, during which he member, attributed his "important bth patentèd a process for making- inventions" to a "keen perception carbon filament for light bulbs of the potential of the electric and invented the bulb's threaded light and kindred industries." socket. He helped instàll the carbon filament lighting' system in. New York City, Philadelphia, Montreal and London.

Granville Woods, 1856-1910

Granville Woods was awarded more grooved wheel fpr the trolley car, a than 35 patents for electrical systems "third rail" system for an electric and devices which created new locomotive, an improved airbrake energy techniques for the transporta- system, and a telegraph system for tion and communication industries. communicating between moving trains, which contributed to railroad 'Born in Columbus, Ohio, Woods safety. Woods sold most of his migrated ,to Missouri and worked inventions to the General Electric, in a variety of jobs which gave him Westinghouse and Bell Telephone' the experience' to formulate his Companies. inventions. In 1884, he secured his first patent for a furnace and boiler to produce steam heat. In the years that followed, the prolific inventor improved the telephone transmitter and developed an electric car powered by overhead wires, a Gas Masks and Traffic Signals-Life-Saving Inventions

Engineered Bridges, Powerplants, and Major Structures.Across the Nation Garrett A. Morgan, 1877-1963

Kentucky-born Garrett Morgan In 1923, Morgan received a patent received wide recognition for his for his new concept—a traffic signal outstanding contributions to public to regulate vehicle movement in safety. Firemen in many cities in city areas. "Stop" and "Go" signs the early. 1900's wore the safety were systematically raised and low- helmet and gas mask that he in- eréd at intersections to bring order vented, and for' which he was out of chaos and improve traffic awarded a gold medal at the • safety. Some,years later, after he Second International Exposition of had sold his design to the General Safety and Sanitation in New York Electric Company, Morgan's device In 1914. Two years later, he himself was replaced with the light signal in used the mask to rescue men trapped use today. by a gas explosion in a, tunnel being constructed under Lake Erie. For lowing the disaster which took 21 lives, the City of Cleveland honored him with a gold medal for his heroic efforts.

Archie Alexander, 1888-1958

Archie Alexander, a design and Alabama, and the Tidal Basin bridge construction engineer, left his stamp and seawall and the Whitehurst ' on the landscape of America by Freeway in Washington, D.C. building bridges, freeways, airfields, railroad trestles and powerplants. Alexander received many awards during the course of his career. Born in Iowa, Alexander attended At the centennial celebration of ' the State University and received the University of Iowa in 1947, he an engineering degree in 1912. was named one of its outstanding After several . years' as a design alumni. In 1954, President engineer,, he and a former class- Eisenhower honored him with the mate established their own engineer- appointment as Territorial Governor ing firm and constructed major of the Virgin Islands. projects across the Nation. Starting at home, they built the heating plant and powerhouse at the University of Iowa, a sewage treat- ment plant in Grand Rapids, Michigan, an airfield in Tuskegee, A Man for all Seasons- Heating, Air Conditioning„ and ,Ventilation Designer

Changed Our Eating Habits with , Refrigeration David Crosthwait, 1891-1976

For his outstanding contributions to An`authotityon heat transfer, ventila- engineering technology, David tion, and air Conditioning, Crosthwait Crosthwait was awarded an honorary invented, several new systems. He devel- doctorardegree in 1975 from Purdue oped the control systems and the vari- University, the same school that had able vacuum system of heating for awarded him a B.S.,in mechanical major,buildings including Rockefeller engineering 62 years earlier. In the • Center in New York City. His writings years between, he had received 34 included a manual on heating and U.S. patents and 80 foreign patents cooling with water and guides, stand- relating to the design, installation, ards and codes dealing with heating testing, and servicing of powerplants ventilation, refrigeration, and air and heating and ventilating systems. conditioning.

Crosthwait worked for the Dunham After retiring from industry in 1969, Company of Chicago during much Crosthwait contined to share his of his career and headed its research knowledge by teaching a course on laboratory in Marshalltown, Iowa. steam hewing theory and controls at Later he served as technical advisor Purdue. to the company. Frederick M. Jones, 1892-1961

Frederick M. Jones held more than Born in Ohio, Jones served in France 60 patents in a variety of fields, but during Work) War I. After the war, refrigeration was his specialization. he worked as a garage mechanic and, In 1935, he invented the first auto- from the knowledge gained in this matic refrigeration system fbr long- early experience, developed a self- haul trucks. Later, the system was starting gasoline motor. In the late adapted to a variety of other carriers, 1920's, Jones designed a series of , including ships and railway cars. devices for the growing movie His invention eliminated the prob- industry, adapting silent movie lem of .food spoilage and changed projectors to accommodate talking ,America's eating habits. In addition, films, and developing the box-office Jones developed an air-conditioning equipment that delivers tickéts, and unit for military field hospitals, a spills out change. portable x-ray machine, and a re- frigerator for military field kitchens. Electronics and Energy-Saving Cars

Mapping and Tracking Space Missions Louis W. Roberts 1913-

Louis W..Roberts, physicist, mathe- Laboratory in the Electronics Re- matician and electronics specialist, search Center of the National is Director of Energy and Environ- Aernautics and Space Administra- ment.at the Transportation System tion. Earlier, he founded, and was Center in Cambridge, Mass. The president of, his own microwave . center; part of the U.S. Department concern. In addition to his industrial of Transportation, develops energy and government research experience, conservation practices for the trans- Roberts has served as a professor portation industry. Currently, the of physics at Howard University and. 'industry uses about half of this professor of math and physics at country's total petroleum demand, St. Augustine's College. but is required by the Energy Con- servation Policy Act to reduce fuel Educated at Fisk University and the use in all vehicles. University of Michigan, Roberts holds 11 patents: all in electronic Roberts' productive career has devices, and has written many included an assignment as chief papers on electromagnetism, optics of the Optics and Microwave and microwaves.

Katherine Johnson, 1918 -

Katherine Johnson is an Aerospace Johnson analyzed data gathered `Technologist at the National Aero- by tracking stations around the world nautics and.Space Administration's during the lunar orbital missions— Langley Research Center, Hampton, the moon shots. Later, she studied Virginia.Trained as a mathematician new navigation procedures to deter • and physicist in colleges of her native mine more practical ways,to track. West Virginia, she has worked on manned and unmanned space missions. absorbing problems of interplanetary For her pioneer work in this field, trajectories, space navigation and she was a recipient of the Group the orbits of spacecraft. These Achievement Award presented to spacecraft included the Earth. - NASA's Lunar Spacecraft and Opera Resources Satellite which has helped tions team. locate underground minerals and other essential earth resources. ElectronicDevices for Heart Stimulators and Guided Missiles

From Rockets to Solar And Wind Energy for Africa Otis Boykin, 1920-

Otis Boykin, who began his career His' innovations have had both as a laboratory assistant testing military and commercial application. automatic controls for airplanes, Some have reduced the cost of has invented a wide range of producing electronic controls for electronic devices. One of his first radio and, television. At present, achievements was a type of resistor more than three dozen products now usedin many computers, radios, with Boykin components are used television sets, and other elec- throughout the world. tronically controlled devices. In additioñ, Boykin has developed a control unit for artificial heart stimulators, a variable resistor used in guided missiles, small component; such as thick-film resistors for computers, a burglar-proof cash register, and a chemical air filter.

O.S. (Ozzie) Williams, 1921-

O.S. (Ozzie) Williams was the first modules during moon landings. This Black aeronautical engineer to be responsibility included administering hired by Republic Aviation, Inc., nearly forty million dollars in subcon- during World War Il. Subsequently,. tracts. Williams now is vice president he joined Greer Hydraulics, Inc., of the firtn, in charge of trade and where he became a group project industrial relations with emerging engineer and helped develop the first African nations; here his work airborne radar beacon for locating includes the application of solar and . crashed aircraft. A specialist in sjnall wind energy to African needs. ' rocket engine design, Williams also was associated with the Reaction Motors Division of Thiokol Chemical' Corporation.

In 1961, he joined Grumman international, where he was in charge of developing and producing the control rocket systems that guided lunar Ph. D. at 19 Leads to Nuclear and Space Research

Clean Air Machine for Environment and ,Health J. Ernest Wilkins, Jr., 1923-

Mathematician, physicist and His primary achievement has been engineer, J. Ernest Wilkins, Jr., the development of shields against has contributed his talents, mainly gamma rays from the sun and to the research and development of nuclear sources. He developed nuclear power. mathematical models by which the amount of gamma rays absorbed by As a teenager, Wilkins attracted a given màterial may be calculated; nationwide attention when he this technique is in wide use among received his college degree at age 17 researchers in space and nuclear and. his doctorate from the Univer- projects. sity of Chicago at 19. He taught mathematics and did tesearch at Wilkins served for several years as the University's Metallurgical . Distinguished Professor of Applied Laboratory which was working on Mathematical Physics at Howard the atomic bomb. Later,' he became University, A member of the part owner of a company which National Academy of Engineering, designbd and develope8 nuclear he was formerly presiders of the reactors for power generation. American Nuclear Society.

Rufus Stokes, 1924-

Rufus Stokes' concern for cleaner not only to help people with air for aIl Americans caused him to respiratory problems, but to benefit focus his research on developingair plants and animals as well; a side filtration equipment. Born in effect of the filtered air is the Alabama, Stokes later moved to improvement in the appearance Illinoiswhere he worked as a and durability of objects such as machinist for an incinerator cars and buildings that are usually cpmpany. In 1968, he was granted. exposed t outdoor pollution for a patent on an air-purification _ lengthy periods . device to reduce to a safe level the gases and ash from furnace and' powerplant—smoke;. the filtered smoke also became nearly invisible.

Stokes has tested and demonstrated several models of his "clean air machine" in- Chicago and elsewhere to show that it may be used in many ways. His system is intended, Managing the Radioactive Wastes of Nuclear Power Generation

High-Voltage Electricity from Natural Gas Virgil G. Trice, Jr., 1926 -

Virgil Trice has spent almost 30 years From 1949 to 1971 Trice worked at in-developing nuclear energy and now the, Argonne National Laboratory on is primarily concerned with manag- research and development, econo- ing the radioactive waste that results, mic evaluation, and program plan- from nuclear power generation. ning of concepts for nuclear fuel He has been working in the waste reprocessing and power reactors. management field since 1971 .when he joined the Atomic Energy Com- Born in Indianapolis, Trice attended mission. Ip 1975 the AEC was Purdue University where he received abolished and he transferred to B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemical the Energy Research and Develop- engineering.He also received an M.S. ment Administration and then to • in industrial engineering from the the Department of Energy when it Illinois Institute of Technology, His was established in 1977. He is re- Career includes teaching part time as sponsible for radioactive waste man- Associate Professor of Chemical agement planning, reporting, and "Engineering at Howard University. program control—an area important to the future -of nuclear power.- Meredith Gourdine, 1929-

Meredith Gourdine is best known dispersing fog ,from airport runways; for his pioneering work in electro- and a system -for production-line gasdynamics, a way of producing coating of metal products, which -high-voltage electricity from natural reduces production costs apd the ' gas.His research has the potential to ' amount of pollutants released to the improve refrigeration for ,preserving atmosphere. foods, supply power for heat and light in homes, burn coal more Formerly chief scientist with the efficiently,. and desalt Sea water. Curtiss-Wright Corp., 'Gourdine served on the Presidential Advisory Head of his own research and develop- Panel on Energy in 1964. A man of ment. company in New Jersey, many talents, he also won a silver Gourdine and his associates have medal in track at the 1952 Olympics. developed a variety of devices: an exhaust-purifying system for cars; equipment for reducing incinerator smoke pollution from older apart- ment houses; a technique for Computer Codes for Energy Technology

Teamwork Discovers New Chemical Elements Annie Easley, 1932

Annie Easley is among the growing A native of Birmingham, Alabama, group of women who are making Easley has worked for'NASA and its majorcontributions to energy predecessor agency since 1955.- She research and management. Working continued her edgcation while work- at the National Aeronautics and Space ing and, in 1977, obtained a degree in . Administration's Lewis Research mathematics from Cleveland State , Center in Cleveland, Ohio, Easley University..Over the years she attend- develops and implements computer ed many curses in her specialization: codes used in solar, wind, and offered by NASA. other energy projects. Her energy assignments havrincluded studies to determine the life of storage 'batteries (such as those used in electric vehicles) and to identify energy conversion systems that offer the greatest improvement over com- mercially available technology.

James Harris , 1932 -

Nuclear chemist James Harris was a hours of bombarding the target with member of the scientific team at carbon, detected element 104 for a Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory that few seconds in 1969. Element 105 discovered. two new elements ¡List a was prodùced in 1970 when the same .few years ago. -Harris joined the. target was bombarded with nitrogen. laboratory, which is operated for Element 104 was named Ruther- fhe Department of Energy by the fordium, and 105, Hahnium,. in University of California, in 1960, honor of two atomic pioneers. after years of research at Tracerlab, Inc. At Berkeley he sought to com- Unlike most of his colleagues,' plete the periodic table of chemical Harris'did not have a Ph.D. degreé. elements. The Texas native: had• a B.S. from Houston.Tillotson•Cllege in Austin In the course of several years the lab- and had taken graduate. courses in oratory produced a number of new chemistry and physics. However, elements by bombarding special tar- 'his alma mater conferred an hon- gets in an ac cejerator. The research • orary doctorate upon him in 1973, team purified and prePgred the tar- largely because of his work as co- get material and, after hundreds of ' 'discoverer of elements 104 and 105. Looking Ahead to Energy from Magnetic Fusion

The Energy-Saving "Occustat" Caldwell McCoy, 1933 -

As program manager for the National Froni 1959 to 1976, McCoy de- Magnetic Fusion Energy Computer signed, tested, and evaluated sys- Network, Caldwell McCoy directs the ' tems for detecting and tracking Nation's largest network-devoted to submarines. For his achievements in a single scientific problem—that of developing long-range anti-sub- achieving usable energy from mag- marine systems at the Naval Re- netic fusion. The Department of search Laboratory in Washington, Energy network serves over 800 D.C., he was awarded the Labora- users of experimental data across tory's Thomas Edison. Fellowship in the country. 1968. Since 1976 he has been part of the magnetic fusion.enetgy pro- A native of Hartford,•McCoy earned gram, first with the Energy Re- an electrical engineering degree at the search and Development Adminis University of Connecticut and then tration and then its successor agency, received both'Master and Doctor of the Department of Energy. Science degrees, the latter in tele- communications, from George Washington University.

Clarence L. Elder, 1935-

Head of his own research and motion, reducing energy demand end development firm in Baltimore, achieving energy savings up to 30 Clarence Elder was awarded a percent. patent in 1976 for a monitoring and control energy conservation Elder and his associates also have system.His "Occustat" is designed developed other systems and devices to reduce energy waste in for which they have received 12 U.S. temporarily vacant homes and other and foreign patents, trademarks and buildings, and may be especially copyrights. valuable for motels and hotels. The, system. consists of connecting each Born in Georgia, and graduated from energy unit to an electronic beam Morgan State College, Elder was attached to the building entrance to awarded a plaque at the New York monitor incoming and outgoing International Patent Exposition in occupants. When the house or 1969 for "Outstanding Achievement apartmént is empty .of people, the in the Field of Electronics." beam sets the Occustat system into Nuclear Electric Power

Propellants and Nuclear Reactors— Energy from Research In Chemistry Cordell Reed, 1938-

Cordell Reed, Assistant Vice the engipeering design of all nuclear President of the Commonwealth projects. In this period, Common- Edison Company of Chicago is in wealth became the Nation's leading charge of nuclear licensing and nuclear utility; currently the environmental activities. company has seven nuclear power plants in operation capable of Reed has been with the company producing more than 5,400,000 since 1960, starting as an engineer, kilowatts of electricity, and is assigned to the design, construction ,constructing additional units with and operation of coal-fired generat- a capacity of 6,600,000 kilowatts. ing stations. In 1967, he transferred to the nuclear division, with the task A native of Chicago, Reed holds a of developing more efficient and masters degree in engineering from productive powerplants. In 1975, the University of Illinois.. Reed was appointed manager of the nuclear engineering department, where he headed a group of 75 engineers who were responsible for

Donald Cotton, 1939 -

Donald Cotton, the technical lead microwave absorption technique for for nuclear chemistry research and measuring solid propellant burning development at the Department of rates. Later he researched liquid Ehergy, plans, manages, and eval- state chemistry and liquid gas uates research and develqpment on propellants. reactor materials 'and chemistry - carried out in DOE national labora- His career extended beyond the tories. He identifies 'the breeder laboratory. For 2 years Cotton was reactor needs of less-developed science editor for Libratterian nations an assignment which has Books, presenting scientific and taken him to several European states. technical subjects to lay readers.

Dr. Cotton first worked as a physical Cotton's degrees in physical chemis- chemist at the Naval Propellant Plant try include an M.S. from Yale Uni- at Indian Head, Maryland. From versity and a Ph.D from Howard. He , there he moved to the Marine has lectured at universities in Africa Engineering Laboratory in Annapolis and SoutheAmerica, has patents to where he,worked on the combustion his credit, and has written many of hydrocarbon fuels and invented a scientific papers. From Developing Physics Research to Developing Gifted Students

Moving Solar Technology from the Laboratory to Industry Ernest Coleman,1942- ~

Ernest Coleman has directed high During a year as visiting Professor ' energy physics research at three at Stanford University he becamé Federal agencies - the Atomic Energy director of the summer science pro- Commission, the Energy Research gram for gifted disadvantaged college and Development Administration, students. He has continued to head and the Department of Energy. this program and has brought highly motivated and able students int the Coleman; a Phi Beta Kappa student at field of physics. the University of Michigan, received, his B.S., M.S.; and Ph.D..,degrees For his contributions to physics edu- there. After graduation he was award- cation, particularly for disadvantaged ed a year's research, fellowship in high students, and for his contributions to energy physics by the German Govern- physics research and its' applica- ment and studied in Hamburg. Upon tions in education, Coleman received his return to the United States, the Distinguished Service Award of Coleman taught at the University of the American Association of Physics Minnesota, first as Assistant Professor Teachers. of Physics and then as Associate Professor. Lawnie Taylor

Physicist Lawnie Taylor, chief of mar- Taylor received his B.S. and MA. ket development and training in the degrees in physics from Colurmbia Department of Energy's solar offices, University and has completed plans and directs programs to ac- academic requirements for the Ph.D. celerate the commercialization of in physics at the University of newly developed solar technologies. Southern California.,

Before joining thé Energy Research Among his many civic activities and Development Administration in Taylor has been a newspaper 1975, Taylor ,operated his own publisher and the founder of sev- • building-system engineering firm in eral recognized organizations con • Los Angeles. Previouisly he held cerned with housing, education, and • scientific research and managemqnt economic development in the low- positions in' Columbia University's income community. Taylor has also Nuclear . Laboratory, the Aerojet- authored , many publications on General Corporation's nuclear science and techpology, education, rocket project and the Xerox Corpo- and equal opportlunity. ation's space program. Taylor received a NASA award for his development of an Apollo experiment.