IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 966 

Honoring African-American inventors, past and present, for their leadership, 

courage, and significant contributions to our national competitiveness. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2008 

Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas (for herself, Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. FARR, Mr. EHLERS, Mrs. 

MALONEY of New York, Mr. KIND, Ms. LEE, Mr. REYES, Mr. LAMPSON, 

Mr. ROSS, Mr. HONDA, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. 

ELLISON, and Mr. SESTAK) submitted the following resolution; which was 

referred to the Committee on Science and Technology 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring African-American inventors, past and present, for 

their leadership, courage, and significant contributions 

to our national competitiveness. 

Whereas African-American and other minority scientists, 

technologists, engineers, and mathematicians have made 

significant achievements in our national research enterprise and inspired future generations; 

Whereas the National Society of Black Engineers (‘‘NSBE’’) 

lifts up African-American researchers of the past and 

present, including special contributors named in this Resolution; 


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Whereas Garrett Augustus Morgan made outstanding contributions to public safety; 

Whereas firefighters in the early 1900s wore the safety helmets and gas masks that he invented, and for which he 

was awarded a gold medal at the Second International 

Exposition of Safety and Sanitation in New York in 

1914; 

Whereas 2 years later, he himself used the mask to rescue 

men trapped by a gas explosion in a tunnel being constructed under Lake Erie; 

Whereas following the disaster which took 21 lives, the City 

of Cleveland honored him with a gold medal for his heroic 

efforts; 

Whereas in 1923, he received a patent for a traffic signal to 

regulate vehicle movement in city areas, and this device 

was a direct precursor to the modern traffic light in use 

today; 

Whereas Ernest Everett Just was a trailblazer in the fields 

of cell biology and zoology; 

Whereas his research and papers on marine biology were so 

well received in 1915 that Ernest Everett Just was 

awarded the first Spingarn Medal by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People at age 32; 

Whereas Ernest Everett Just dedicated years of research toward the study of cells and cell structures in order to understand and find cures for cellular irregularities and diseases such as sickle cell anemia and cancer and became 

one of the most respected scientists in his field; 

Whereas racial bigotry in the United States caused much of 

his work and his achievements to go unrewarded; 


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Whereas in other countries, he was treated as a pioneer and 

was recruited to work with Russian scientists and invited 

to be a guest researcher at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute 

for Biology, the world’s greatest scientific research laboratory at the time; 

Whereas he was welcomed at the Naples Zoological Station 

in Italy and the Sorbonne in France, where he conducted 

research and was regarded as one of the most outstanding zoologists of his time; 

Whereas Archibald Alphonso Alexander excelled in design and 

construction engineering; 

Whereas, employed by the Marsh Engineering Company, he 

designed the Tidal Basin bridge in Washington, DC; 

Whereas after studying bridge design in London, Archibald 

Alphonso Alexander and George Higbee formed a general 

contracting business that focused on bridge design; 

Whereas his designs include Washington, DC’s Whitehurst 

Freeway, the heating plant and power station at the University of Iowa, and an airfield in Tuskegee, Alabama; 

Whereas he went on to become the first Republican territorial 

governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands; 

Whereas David Nelson Crosthwait Jr. made significant and 

practical contributions to the engineering of heating and 

cooling systems; 

Whereas he held numerous patents relating to heat transfer, 

ventilation, and air conditioning, the areas in which he 

was considered an expert; 

Whereas David Nelson Crosthwait Jr. served as director of 

research laboratories for C. A. Dunham Company in 


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Marshalltown, Iowa, where he served as technical advisor 

from 1930 to 1970; 

Whereas he designed the heating systems for Radio City 

Music Hall and Rockefeller Center in New York City and 

authored texts and guides on heating and cooling with 

water; 

Whereas during the 1920s and 1930s, he invented an improved boiler, a new thermostat control, and a new differential vacuum pump to improve the heating systems in 

larger buildings; and 

Whereas African-American innovators continue to improve 

the daily lives of Americans through their inventions and 

stir the creative spirit of future generations: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the United States House of Rep2 resentatives— 

3 (1) recognizes and appreciates the significant 

4 achievements to our national research enterprise 

5 made by African-American and other minority sci6 entists, technologists, engineers, and mathemati7 cians; 

8 (2) honors and extends its appreciation and 

9 gratitude toward all African-American inventors, for 

10 the significant and honorable research and edu11 cational contributions that improve the lives of all 

12 citizens and that have gone unacknowledged too 

13 long; and 


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1 (3) looks for opportunities to make sure that 

2 the creativity and contribution of minority scientists, 

3 technologists, engineers, and mathematicians can be 

4 expressed through research, development, standard5 ization, and innovation. 

Æ 


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