There’s nothing like seeing a spotlight on Black Excellence.
Today’s Google Doodle honors Elijah McCoy on his birthday, a Black Canadian inventor who may not be widely known for his contributions to mechanical engineering. McCoy invented a patented lubrication device for steam engines that enabled trains to travel faster and for longer periods without having to stop for maintenance.
McCoy’s inventions were no small contribution considering locomotives were the dominant form of mass land transportation in the U.S. for people and cargo during the 19th century.
McCoy showed interest in engineering at a young age. He was born free May 2, 1844 in Colchester, Ontario, Canada to parents who escaped enslavement in Kentucky and fled north. His parents sent him to Scotland at age 15 to learn mechanical engineering and he received his certification at the University of Edinburgh. McCoy pursued an engineering post in the U.S. but because he was Black, he was denied work in that field so he took jobs as a fireman and oiler at a railroad in Michigan. During that period he engineered a lubrication cup that distributed oil over a train’s internal mechanical components. The invention was later patented.
McCoy developed numerous of inventions for trains. Later in his career, McCoy’s work caught the attention of Booker T. Washington, who claimed in his book “Story of the Negro,” released in 1909, that McCoy had produced more patented inventions than any other Black person.
McCoy lived in Michigan until his death at age 85.
