

He received numerous honors for his work, including the Spingarn Medal of the NAACP.Ī later renowned scientist was Percy Lavon Julian, a research chemist and a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants.

He also developed and promoted about 100 products made from peanuts that were useful for the house and farm. The most popular of his 44 practical bulletins for farmers contained 105 food recipes using peanuts. He wanted poor farmers to grow alternative crops both as a source of their own food and as a source of other products to improve their way of life. Despite this, many black innovators have been responsible for a large number of major inventions.Īmong the earliest was George Washington Carver, whose reputation was based on his research into and promotion of alternative crops to cotton, which aided in nutrition for farm families. Cook linked violence towards African-Americans and lack of legal protections over the period 1870–1940 to lower innovation. These have ranged from practical everyday devices to applications and scientific discoveries in diverse fields, including physics, biology, math, and medicine.Īfrican-Americans have been the victims of oppression, discrimination and persecution throughout American history, with an impact on African-American innovation. This list of African Americans inventors and scientists documents many of the African-Americans who have invented a multitude of items or made discoveries in the course of their lives.
