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Homeschooling in the Fast Lane:The Real McCoy
by Marilynn Griffith (Marilynn's bio)
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Ever heard the phrase, "the real McCoy"? Perhaps unknowingly, the speaker referred to Black engineer and inventor Elijah McCoy. With over 50 patents to his credit, including several inventions in his seventies and eighties, McCoy exemplifies the American standard of excellence through ingenuity.
A FREE BEGINNING
Born in 1843 to Canadian ex-slaves George and Mildred McCoy, Elijah showed mechanical promise at a young age. Relocated in Ypsilanti, Michigan, George and Mildred desired to further their son's education. From saved logging wages, McCoy traveled to Edinborough, Scotland at sixteen to study mechanical engineering.
A SHACKLED FUTURE
Upon completion of his Master Engineer course, McCoy returned home to find throwing wood in the fire the only job available. Keeping the blazing furnace going and oiling the moving parts while the trains roared along the Michigan Central Railroad proved a dangerous employ. With no way to communicate until Granville T. Woods* invented the induction telegraph in 1887, trains often crashed into each other leaving the "firemen" with mangled limbs and lost lives.
INNOVATION DESPITE DISCRIMINATION
With his engineering background, Elijah McCoy decided to resolve the costly and dangerous railroad fueling system. In 1872, McCoy patented the first steam engine lubricator.
At first, people doubted a black man could invent an automatic oiling mechanism. Other men attempted to copy McCoy's model and make a profit. It didn't work. The original's performance superceded all the imitations and before long, people insisted on the "real McCoy" for their engines.
A LEGACY OF LEARNING
McCoy went own to establish his own manufacturing company and patent 57 labor-saving devices in the US, Canada, France, Germany, Russia and ustria.
Never content to be idle, he spent the end of his life inventing as well. He patented an air brake lubricator and vehicle wheel tire at ages 77 and 80. In the face of racism and ridicule, Elijah McCoy and has family chose to impact their world by creating quality machines for a safer world. McCoy's legacy lives on in the trains, engines and ocean liners of today. So the next time you want the best, just ask for the "real McCoy"!
*Granville T. Woods, called the "Black Edison" invented the Railway Telegraph in 1877.
For more information on Black Inventors, visit:
Inventor's Online Museum
www.inventorsmuseum.com/africanam.htm
Black Patents
http://www.blackpatents.com/blackpatents.html
For lesson plans on invention, visit:
Inventors Workshop: Understanding the Six Basic Machines
http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/invention-leonardoslegacy/index.html
Turning Students into Inventors Unit
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/~meg3c/id/id_sep/id_sep.html
Music Inventions
http://www.classroom.com/edsoasis/TGuild/Lessons/Music.html
Copyright 2002, Marilynn Griffith. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.
| About Marilynn Griffith: Marilynn Griffith is a freelance writer living in Florida, with her husband and six children. Her recent credits include HONEY FOR A HOMESCHOOLER'S HEART, CRUMBS IN THE KEYBOARD, COMFORT FOR A GRIEVING HEART, PROVERBS FOR THE PEOPLE, Christian Families Online and more. She is Assistant Editor for the Better Babies Newsletter http://www.bwbainc.homestead.com/BetterBabiesOnline.html |
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