did black people.invent.the traffic light
View full sizeCleveland News fileGarrett Morgan, an inventor and part of Cleveland's black history, in 1949. As part of Black History Month, we remember Garrett Augustus Morgan, a Cleveland inventor and businessman best known for creating the modern-day gas mask and traffic light. Morgan, the son of former slaves, was born March 4, 1877. He moved to Cleveland in 1895 and was employed as a sewing machine repairman for a clothing manufacturer.