Do you know what’s been keeping firefighters alive? Garrett Morgan and his inventions. He made belt fasteners, traffic lights and more.

Morgan was born on March 4, 1877, in Paris, Kentucky. His parents, Elizabeth Reed and Sydney Morgan, were both originally slaves. Morgan was the seventh child of 11. He attended Branch Elementary and had a private tutor. After Morgan graduated from 6th grade, he dropped out of school. He moved to Ohio in search of employment.

In 1895, Morgan worked as a handyman. Later he invented a belt fastener for sewing machines. In 1908, Morgan co-founded an association called “Colored Men” that helped improve the social economic status of African Americans. In 1914, Morgan invented the first breathing device. It helped the person wearing it to have safe air in smoke, gases, or other polluted or toxic situations. The invention became a prototype for gas masks used in World War I. The invention won first prize at the International Exposition of Safety and Sanitation in 1916, two years after Morgan invented the gas mask.

The masks helped with the Lake Erie incident. The city of Cleveland was drilling a new tunnel under Lake Erie for a fresh water supply. The workers hit a pocket of natural gas, which resulted in a huge explosion and trapped the workers underground with suffocating toxic fumes and dust. Morgan and his brother put on the breathing devices, then made their way to the tunnel. The brothers were able to save two lives and recovered four bodies before the rescue was shut down.

By now, the public was aware that Morgan was African American and refused to purchase his products. Morgan and his brother were never fully recognized for their heroic efforts at Lake Erie, even when Morgan was nominated for a Carnegie Medal. He sadly was not chosen.

Morgan was an inventor for all kinds of things. He soon started to study hats, belt fasteners and car parts. He was actually the first black man in Cleveland to own a car. He used the car to work on his mechanical skills  and developed the friction drive clutch. In 1923, Morgan created a new kind of traffic signal. He had made a three-way traffic light. He was inspired to create the traffic light when he witnessed a car crash between a car and a buggy.

Morgan died in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 27, 1963. Morgan improved and saved countless lives including firefighters, soldiers and more. He never gave up. Morgan truly made a change.