The Pride of African American History

Book excerpt: The true measure of a nation's worth in this great family of nations is proportionate to that nation's contribution to the welfare and happiness of the whole. Similarly, an individual is measured by the contributions he or she makes to the well being of the community in which he or she lives. If inventions therefore have played the important part here assigned to them in the gradual development of our complex national life, it becomes important to know what contributions the African American has made to the inventive skill of this country. In this book you will learn that the African American has contributed a disproportionate amount of creativity and resourcefulness on a list of more than 1100 U.S. Patents for inventions ranging from the propeller, the gas mask, air conditioning, pain relieving drugs, heart pace-maker controls and cellular phones to the elevator, rapid-fire guns, nuclear reactors and three-stage rockets. Throughout their long history, African Americans have created a rich, complex and highly diverse culture laced with outstanding role models who have helped make America the strongest country in the world.