H. Res. 1085 

In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

February 24, 2010. 

Whereas African-Americans have played an instrumental role 

in developing and improving the transportation and infrastructure of the United States through leadership, design, 

and innovation; 

Whereas the contributions of African-Americans have had 

significant and far-reaching impacts on modern transportation systems, including airways, highways, and railways, and have led to momentous improvements to transportation safety and security; 

Whereas, in aviation, for example, Elizabeth ‘‘Bessie’’ Coleman, a daring stunt pilot known as ‘‘Queen Bess’’, was 

the first African-American woman to become a licensed 

airplane pilot in 1921 and the first United States citizen 

of any race or gender to hold an international aviation 

license from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale; 

Whereas Eugene Jaques Bullard was the first African-American military pilot in history, serving as a United States 

volunteer in the French army during World War I; 

Whereas Cornelius R. Coffey established the Coffey School of 

Aeronautics at Harlem Airport in Chicago, where more 

than 1,500 African-American students trained as pilots 
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and mechanics from 1938 to 1945, including many who 

would later become Tuskegee Airmen; 

Whereas Willa Beatrice Brown, the first African-American 

woman to receive a United States private pilot license in 

1938, helped found the National Airmen’s Association of 

America in 1939, later became the coordinator of wartraining service for the Civil Aeronautics Authority, and 

served as the first African-American female officer in the 

Civil Air Patrol; 

Whereas Neil V. Loving helped form an all African-American 

Civil Air Patrol Squadron in Detroit, established the 

Wayne School of Aeronautics in 1946, designed and built 

several experimental aircraft, and performed critical research as an aerospace engineer for the United States 

Air Force; 

Whereas Marlon Green became the first African-American 

pilot for a major airline in 1965 after winning a landmark racial discrimination employment case in the Supreme Court of the United States, and served earlier in 

his career as a Captain in the United States Air Force 

for 9 years; 

Whereas the Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American airmen, aircraft and engine mechanics, armament 

specialists, radio repairmen, parachute riggers, control 

tower operators, policemen, and administrative clerks 

during World War II, and whose service and performance 

were instrumental in ending segregation in the United 

States military; 

Whereas Dr. Lewis A. Jackson, an aviation pioneer and educator, was the director of training at the Army Air Force 

66th Flight Training Detatchment at Moton Field, the 
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primary flight training site for the Tuskegee Airmen, and 

also pursued designing an experimental aircraft called a 

roadable airplane; 

Whereas Elinor Williams became the first African-American 

woman to be an air traffic controller in 1968 and the 

first African-American woman to manage an Air Route 

Traffic Control Center, who then went on to become the 

regional administrator of the Great Lakes Region for the 

Federal Aviation Administration; 

Whereas LeRoy Wilton Homer, Jr., courageously served as 

the first officer of United Airlines Flight 93, which was 

overtaken by terrorists on September 11, 2001, and previously served in the United States Air Force in the Persian Gulf War; 

Whereas Barrington Irving became the first African-American and youngest individual at 23 to fly solo around-theworld in his custom-built Columbia 400 named Inspiration in June 2007, and founded the non-profit organization Experience Aviation, Inc. to introduce youth to aviation and aerospace and to address the shortage of young 

people pursuing careers in those fields; 

Whereas African-Americans have also played important roles 

in shaping the Nation’s highways, bridges, and transit 

and rail systems throughout the country’s history 

through innovation, pioneering new technologies, and 

building the infrastructure that connects the Nation and 

enables economic growth and prosperity; 

Whereas Garrett A. Morgan invented the Automatic Traffic 

Signal, a precursor to the modern traffic light; 

Whereas Horace King became known as ‘‘The Bridge Builder’’ for his work rebuilding bridges throughout Georgia, 
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Mississippi, South Carolina, Alabama, New York, and 

many other States and passed on his legacy to his children through the family business, the Bridge Company; 

Whereas Archibald Alexander placed his mark on the Nation’s capital by designing the Tidal Basin Bridge and 

the Whitehurst Freeway in Washington, DC; 

Whereas the all African-American 93rd, 95th, and 97th 

Army Engineer General Service Regiments overcame 

harsh environmental conditions and racial discrimination 

to help build the most difficult and hazardous portion of 

the Alaska Highway; 

Whereas Frederick M. Jones patented the air-conditioning 

controlling device to enable the transportation of perishable food using trucks and rail cars, and also patented 

the gas engine starter and a control device for internal 

combustion engines; 

Whereas Richard Spikes is credited with the invention of 

such advancements as the automatic car washer, automobile directional signs, the automatic gear shift and 

transmission, and the automatic safety brake system; 

Whereas M.A. Cherry invented a device known as the Velocipede, a precursor to the bicycle, and the streetcar fender, 

designed to prevent collisions with debris on streetcar 

tracks; 

Whereas Issac R. Johnson invented the bicycle frame in 

1899; 

Whereas Humphrey Reynolds invented the safety gate for 

bridges to prevent cars and pedestrians from entering the 

tracks at the same time a train is approaching; 
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Whereas Benjamin Banneker, an astronomer, surveyor, almanac author, and farmer, helped survey the boundaries of 

what became the District of Columbia; 

Whereas Walter McClennan invented the automatic railway 

car door in 1920; 

Whereas Elijah McCoy, a fireman and oiler for the Michigan 

Central Railroad, developed a ‘‘lubricating cup’’ in 1872 

to automatically oil steam engines on trains, which dramatically improved efficiency by eliminating the frequent 

stopping necessary for lubrication of the engine; 

Whereas other inventors attempted to sell their own versions 

of the ‘‘lubricating cup’’ but most companies wanted the 

authentic device for their trains, requesting ‘‘the Real 

McCoy’’; 

Whereas according to Booker T. Washington, McCoy had 

produced more patents than any other African-American 

inventor of his time, many of which contributed to the 

railroad industry; 

Whereas McCoy was inducted into the National Inventors 

Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio, in 2001; 

Whereas Granville T. Woods invented over a dozen devices to 

improve the railroad system including his most notable 

invention in 1887, the Synchronous Multiplex Railway 

Telegraph, which enabled communications between moving and stationary trains creating a system that enabled 

a railroad engineer to determine the distance between 

trains to help improve accidents and collisions; 

Whereas Woods also founded the Woods Railway Telegraph 

Company and is credited with the development of a system for overhead electrified railroads, patented several 
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overhead wire and third rail transmissions systems, and 

made improvements to the steam-boiler furnace; 

Whereas Andrew Beard, an ex-railroad worker who lost his 

leg in a car coupling accident, invented a device in 1897 

that automatically performs the dangerous job of linking 

rail cars together, commonly called the Jenny Coupler, 

the device served as the precursor for the modern system; 

Whereas Lewis Howard Latimer, who drafted the patent 

drawings for Alexander Graham Bell’s patent application 

for the telephone and established public lighting systems 

for entire cities like New York City, Montreal, Paris, and 

London, invented a flushing water closet for trains in 

1874; 

Whereas, A.B. Blackburn patented a railway signal in 1888 

designed to be operated by the wheels of a train; 

Whereas W.F. Burr invented a railway switching device in 

1899; 

Whereas Elbert R. Robinson invented the electric railway 

trolley in 1893; 

Whereas the work of many influential African-Americans 

through the civil rights movement and other social and 

political movements in the United States led to desegregation in transportation as well as significant improvements to the working conditions and rights of transportation workers throughout the United States; 

Whereas Rosa Parks, Homer Plessy, and many other civil 

rights activists insisted on equitable access to public 

transportation; 

Whereas Pullman Porters, which provided service to and attended to the needs of passengers on board trains, became leaders in the civil rights movement and formed the 
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Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in 1925, under the 

leadership of civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph, who 

fought tirelessly to improve the working conditions and 

pay for the Pullman Porters; 

Whereas the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was the 

first African-American labor union to sign a collective 

bargaining agreement with a major United States corporation on August 25, 1937; and 

Whereas National African American History Month is celebrated in February 2010: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

(1) supports the goals and ideals of National African American History Month; 

(2) honors and celebrates the important contributions that African-Americans have made throughout history to the transportation and infrastructure of the 

United States; and 

(3) urges citizens and communities throughout the 

United States to join with representatives of the Federal 

Government to recognize the substantial contributions 

that African-Americans have made and continue to make 

to the Nation’s transportation and infrastructure systems. 

Attest: 

Clerk.