Date: 2008-02-13
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. in celebration of February as Black History Month. I offer this resolution to celebrate the accomplishmentg of four outstanding inventors. The first. Garrett Augustus Morgan. lived from 1877 to 1963 and was a son of former slaves. He grew up in Kentucky on the family farm. but as an adolescent. he worked as a handyman for a wealthy Cincinnati lando*ner. Surely that early experience. as well as his education. influenced and shaped his interest as an inventor. Among his inventions. Garrett Morgan designed a traffic signal that greatly improved public safety. In the early 1900s. bicycles. animalpowered carts. and motor vehicles shared the roads with pedestrians. Accidents frequently occurred between the vehicles. After witnessing a collision between an automobile and a horsedriven carriage. Morgan was convinced that something should be done to improve traffic safety. He was the first to be granted a patent for a traffic signal containing the caution provision. Prior to Morgans invention. most of the traffic signals in use featured only two positions: stop and go. Because the manually operated traffic signals of the day allowed no interval between the "stop" and "go" commands. collisions at busy intersections were common during the transition moving from one street to another. Morgans traffic signal. as well as others. such as a safety hood and smoke protector. contributed greatly to public safety. Such a simple innovation. yet a major impact. The second innovator mentioned in this resolution is Ernest Everett Just. who lived from 1883 to 1941. He grew up in Charleston. South Carolina. and was the son of a dock builder. He dedicated his life to cell biology research and earned a Ph.D at the University of Chicago. He studied the fundamental role of the cell surface in the development of organisms. He performed his research in the District of Columbia. Chicago. and Massachusetts. as well as in Italy. Germany. and France. Ernest Just was truly a trailblazer during the time when African AmerWcan researchers were rare and underappreciated. The third individual to be honored is Archibald Alphonso Alexander. who lived from 1888 to 1958. Born in Iowa. the son of a janitor. Alexander was the first African American to graduate from the University of Iowa. He studied bridge design in London. England. and founded his own business in the 1920s. He and his partners designed and constructed many roads and bridges. including the Whitehurst Freeway. the Tidal Basin Bridge and an extension to the BaltimoreWashington Parkway. He designed the Tuskegee Airfield and the Iowa State University heating and cooling system. He was truly a Renaissance man. He excelled in football. designed highway infrastructure. and served as Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Finally. my resolution honors David Nelson Crosthwait. Jr.. who lived from 1898 to 1976. H6 was born in Nashville. Tennessee. and grew up in Kansas City. Missouri. After graduating from Purdue University in 1913 where be studied mechanical engineering. he took a job with the C.A. Dunham Company. During his 40 years with the company. he became an expert on heat transfer. air ventilation. and central airconditioning. He authored a manual on heating and cooling with water. He also wrote guides and standards as well as codes that dealt with heating. ventilation. refrigeration. and airconditioning systems. During the 1920s and 1930s. he invented an improved boiler. a new thermostat control. and a new differential vacuum pump. which were all more effective for the heating systems in larger buildings. He also held numerous patents anddesigned the heating systems for Radio City Music Hall and Rockefeller Center. These four individuals and so many others overcame the tremendous personal challenges to excel in their careers and benefit society. The National Society of Black Engineers has chosen to lift up these innovators. and I thank the society for its helpful input in designing this resolution to honor these exceptional men. Let their light shine as an example to the thousands of African American young students across the Nation. The message of their lives. that of Black History Month. and that of this resolution: with challenge. comes perseverance. with perseverance comes endurance. with endurance comes strength. and with strength comes success. It is my goal to wish success to all students of color who aspire to future careers in science. technology. engineering. and math. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.