IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1085 
Honoring and celebrating the contributions of African-Americans to the 
transportation and infrastructure of the United States. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 22, 2010 
Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida (for herself, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. CUMMINGS, 
Ms. RICHARDSON, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mrs. 
NAPOLITANO, Mr. HARE, Mr. PERRIELLO, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. SIRES, 
Mr. FILNER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. COHEN, Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland, Mr. 
SHULER, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. 
DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas, 
Mr. MEEK of Florida, and Mr. TOWNS) submitted the following resolu-
tion; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infra-
structure 
RESOLUTION 
Honoring and celebrating the contributions of African-Ameri-
cans to the transportation and infrastructure of the 
United States. 
Whereas African-Americans have played an instrumental role 
in developing and improving the transportation and infra-
structure of the United States through leadership, design, 
and innovation; 
Whereas the contributions of African-Americans have had 
significant and far-reaching impacts on modern transpor-
tation systems, including airways, highways, and rail-
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ways, and have led to momentous improvements to trans-
portation safety and security; 
Whereas, in aviation, for example, Elizabeth ‘‘Bessie’’ Cole-
man, 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-Amer-
ican 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 
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 war- 
training 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 re-
search 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 land-
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mark racial discrimination employment case in the Su-
preme 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-Amer-
ican 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 edu-
cator, was the director of training at the Army Air Force 
66th Flight Training Detatchment at Moton Field, the 
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 pre-
viously served in the United States Air Force in the Per-
sian Gulf War; 
Whereas Barrington Irving became the first African-Amer-
ican and youngest individual at 23 to fly solo around-the- 
world in his custom-built Columbia 400 named Inspira-
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tion in June 2007, and founded the non-profit organiza-
tion Experience Aviation, Inc. to introduce youth to avia-
tion 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 Build-
er’’ for his work rebuilding bridges throughout Georgia, 
Mississippi, South Carolina, Alabama, New York, and 
many other States and passed on his legacy to his chil-
dren through the family business, the Bridge Company; 
Whereas Archibald Alexander placed his mark on the Na-
tion’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 perish-
able food using trucks and rail cars, and also patented 
the gas engine starter and a control device for internal 
combustion engines; 
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Whereas Richard Spikes is credited with the invention of 
such advancements as the automatic car washer, auto-
mobile directional signs, the automatic gear shift and 
transmission, and the automatic safety brake system; 
Whereas M.A. Cherry invented a device known as the Veloci-
pede, 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; 
Whereas Benjamin Banneker, an astronomer, surveyor, alma-
nac 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 dra-
matically 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; 
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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 mov-
ing 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 sys-
tem for overhead electrified railroads, patented several 
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; 
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•HRES 1085 IH 
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 desegre-
gation in transportation as well as significant improve-
ments to the working conditions and rights of transpor-
tation 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 at-
tended to the needs of passengers on board trains, be-
came leaders in the civil rights movement and formed the 
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 cor-
poration on August 25, 1937; and 
Whereas National African American History Month is cele-
brated 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 con-
tributions 
that 
African-Americans 
have 
made 
throughout history to the transportation and infra-
structure of the United States; and 
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(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. 
Æ 
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