| While trying to find a
solution to the sewing machine friction caused by the needles high
speed movement which often scorched the cloth, Garrett discovered a
fluid which turned curly hair straight. He set up a company to market
his hair straightening lotion as "G.A. Morgan Refining
Cream.
Two of his other inventions were a woman's hat
fastener and an electric curling comb. Garrett's most famous
inventions were the first three-way traffic signal and an early gas
mask.
Garrett got the idea for the three-way traffic
signal after he witnessed a serious accident between a automobile and
a horse drawn carriage at a busy intersection. Determined to find a
method of better accident prevention, Garrett came up with his idea
for the first electric traffic signals.
Existing traffic signals of the time only showed
stop and go. Garrett believed that most accidents were caused by
impatient drivers who proceeded as soon as the go signal was shown
often colliding with vehicles that were still passing through from the
other direction.
Garrett's traffic signal had a third signal; an
all-directional stop signal, that halted all traffic in-between each
go signal and allowed pedestrians to cross in safety before the next
go signal. Garrett patented his traffic signal in 1923 and sold the
rights to General Electric for $40,000. His traffic device was
installed in many cities and his basic idea is the principle
behind the red-amber-green traffic lights in use today.
Garrett was also actively involved in the early
civil rights movement. He began publishing the Cleveland Call,
a newspaper containing news of and for the African American community
in 1920. His newspaper, now called The Call and Post is
still published today and has a large circulation in Ohio.
Garrett was the treasurer of the Cleveland Association of
Colored Men which later became a part of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Garrett developed glaucoma in 1943 which left him
essentially blind. He died in 1963. The city of Cleveland has honored
Garrett Morgan as a member of The Cleveland Hall of Fame. |
