Black History Month: Transportation Pioneers
WeDriveU’s salute to inspiring individuals who shaped transportation
We’re paying tribute to significant contributors across the broader transportation industry in honor of #BlackHistoryMonth.
Garrett A. Morgan
Safety-minded inventor and business leader Garrett Augustus Morgan (1877-1963) was granted a U.S. patent in 1923 for a 3-position traffic signal he developed and sold to General Electric.
According to the USDOT blog, “Morgan had an innate mechanical mind that enabled him to solve problems.” His invention “was designed to stand on a street corner and notify vehicles and walkers whether they should stop or go” and addressed two-position “stop and go” manual traffic signs.
Katherine Johnson
WeDriveU talks about circling the earth’s surface several times a day. Katherine Johnson made it possible in space! As a NASA mathematician, Johnson (1918-2020) calculated rocket trajectories and Earth orbits to ensure the success of early U.S. human spaceflight missions.
President Barack Obama honored Johnson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 and highlighted her achievements in advancing space exploration. Johnson was one of the pioneering NASA African-American females featured in the film Hidden Figures with supervisor and mathematician Dorothy Vaughan and engineer Mary Jackson.
Andrew J. Beard
Andrew Beard (1849-1921) was an inventor who transformed railroad transportation. Beard patented a rotary steam engine in 1892 and an automatic train car coupler in 1897.
The African American Registry recognizes Beard’s design drawings for “the Automatic Railroad Car Coupler, commonly referred to as the ‘Jenny’ coupler” – a far safer replacement for the manual coupling used in America’s early railroad industry.
Maya Angelou
While most people know Maya Angelou as an exceptional poet and author, were you aware she was also the first African-American streetcar operator in 1943?
Angelou (1928-2014) got her start at the young age of 16 and operated the 7-Haight line, according to Market Street Railway, an independent nonprofit focused on preserving historic transit in San Francisco, California.
It’s an honor to know WeDriveU buses travel routes her streetcars once did.
Safe Bus Company, Inc.
Safe Bus Company, Inc. became the largest African-American-owned bus company in the U.S. and globally.
Safe Bus was formed in 1926 in Winston-Salem, NC by 13 men with a vision to expand transportation to underserved black communities which had no access to electric streetcars serving white neighborhoods.
The North Carolina Transportation Museum states, “According to the Forsyth County Historic Commission, the name ‘Safe Bus’ was taken from a promise made to Winston-Salem mayor Thomas Barber to operate a safe and organized bus system.” The company was sold to Winston-Salem Transit Authority in 1972.
Their spirit of entrepreneurship and motto of “safety and service” are an inspiration to team WeDriveU.
