Rational and Moral Black Artisans, Inventors and Engineers, 1680s–1920s

Abstract

Black artisans and inventors have been in the US since slavery, and Black engineers graduated from West Point and Rensselaer within two decades of the end of the Civil War. A formerly enslaved man, Booker T. Washington, educated Black stationary engineers and mechanics (among other trades), and promoted Black industrial leadership. Black artisans, inventors and engineers suffered from intense intimidationIntimidation and violenceViolence, but persevered to contribute to the Black population’s increasing education, wealth, and property compared with the years immediately after slavery.