1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:15,680 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:18,959 Speaker 1: a show that believes there's no time like the present 4 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: to learn about the past. I'm Gay Bluesier and in 5 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:26,840 Speaker 1: this episode, we're looking at the work of Garrett Morgan, 6 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:31,400 Speaker 1: the self proclaimed Black Edison who revolutionized the flow of 7 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: traffic by adding a pause between stop and go. The 8 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:51,840 Speaker 1: day was November Prolific inventor and entrepreneur Garrett Morgan received 9 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: the patent for a traffic light signal of his own design. 10 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:59,280 Speaker 1: Traffic signals had been around in some form since at 11 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: least the eight teen sixties, but Morgan's was the first 12 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 1: to feature a middle position between stop and go. According 13 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:11,640 Speaker 1: to the patent, this new caution signal was meant to 14 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:15,119 Speaker 1: give vehicles in the middle of an intersection enough time 15 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:18,919 Speaker 1: to exit before other waiting drivers were given the signal 16 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:23,400 Speaker 1: to proceed, so, in other words, he invented the yellow light. 17 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:29,479 Speaker 1: Garrett Augustus Morgan was born on March fourth, eighteen seventy seven, 18 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:34,320 Speaker 1: in Claysville, Kentucky. He was the seventh of eleven children 19 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:39,319 Speaker 1: born to formerly enslaved parents, Sydney Morgan and Elizabeth Reid. 20 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:43,319 Speaker 1: In his youth, Garrett worked on the family farm with 21 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 1: his siblings and attended a segregated school through the sixth grade. 22 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: When he was just fourteen, he moved north to Cincinnati, Ohio, 23 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: in search of work. He spent four years there working 24 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:59,120 Speaker 1: as a handyman, and in his free time, he took 25 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: lessons from a I Have A tutor to help continue 26 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: his education. Four years later, in eighteen nine, Morgan moved 27 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:11,679 Speaker 1: to Cleveland, where he joined the city's booming garment industry. 28 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 1: At the turn of the twentieth century, one in seven 29 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 1: Cleveland residents worked in the garment business. Morgan started out 30 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,360 Speaker 1: sweeping floors at a factory, but once he taught himself 31 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:26,960 Speaker 1: how to fix the frequently broken sewing machines, he quickly 32 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 1: climbed the ladder and became the company's only black sewing 33 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 1: machine repair man. It was in this new role that 34 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,800 Speaker 1: Morgan made his first invention of Note, a new kind 35 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:43,079 Speaker 1: of belt fastener that made sewing machines more efficient. That innovation, 36 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 1: along with a slew of other mechanical improvements, caught the 37 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:51,080 Speaker 1: attention of other manufacturers in the Cleveland area, putting Morgan 38 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 1: in high demand. In nineteen o seven, he took an 39 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:59,120 Speaker 1: offer from a competitor and began working as that company's machinist. 40 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: There he met his future wife, a white seamstress named 41 00:03:03,639 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 1: Mary Hasseck. The company found out that the two were 42 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: dating and gave them a choice break off their relationship 43 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:16,240 Speaker 1: or leave. They chose to leave. Later that year, the 44 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:19,560 Speaker 1: couple got married and opened their own children's clothing store, 45 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:23,519 Speaker 1: with Mary sewing the clothes and Garrett servicing the machines. 46 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,480 Speaker 1: This proved to be the first of several businesses that 47 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 1: Morgan would establish, including Morgan's Cut Rate Ladies clothing store, 48 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:36,480 Speaker 1: the Morgans Skirt Factory, and the Morgan Hair Refining Company, 49 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 1: where he sold a new hair straightener that he had invented. 50 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: These ventures were so successful that Morgan was able to 51 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: keep expanding into different markets. In he jumped into the 52 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 1: newspaper business by co founding and influential African American paper 53 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 1: named The Cleveland Call. Over the years, Morgan became a 54 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: wealthy and well spected pillar of his community. He even 55 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:05,960 Speaker 1: became the first black man in Cleveland to own a car. 56 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 1: But driving the streets of an American city was no 57 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 1: picnic in the early nineteen twenties. In those early days 58 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,560 Speaker 1: of the automobile, cars had to share the same roads 59 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:22,920 Speaker 1: as pedestrians, bicycles, and horse drawn carriages and wagons. This 60 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:26,560 Speaker 1: chaotic competition for right of way led to the creation 61 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: of various traffic signaling devices, most of which weren't effective 62 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:36,640 Speaker 1: enough to consistently prevent accidents. The first electric traffic light 63 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: was installed in Cleveland in nineteen fourteen, just a few 64 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:44,920 Speaker 1: miles from Morgan's home. It featured four pairs of red 65 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: and green lights, each mounted on a corner post at 66 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: a busy intersection. These stop and go indicators were wired 67 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:57,839 Speaker 1: to a manually operated switch inside a control booth. One 68 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: advantage to this system was the had made it impossible 69 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: to send conflicting signals to drivers. However, it still had 70 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:10,599 Speaker 1: the same fatal flaw as earlier non electric systems. The 71 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:16,440 Speaker 1: signals alternated from stop to go with no pause between them. 72 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 1: This left drivers with no time to react when the 73 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:22,640 Speaker 1: signal changed. As a result, someone may have had the 74 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: right of way when they entered an intersection, but if 75 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 1: the signal changed before they had made it through, they 76 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:31,520 Speaker 1: might be hit by a driver who just got the 77 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 1: green light. It was just such an accident that inspired 78 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,840 Speaker 1: Garrett Morgan to try his own hand at regulating traffic. 79 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: One day, Morgan witnessed a terrible accident between a car 80 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:47,120 Speaker 1: and a horse drawn carriage. The violent scene, in which 81 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:50,520 Speaker 1: a little girl was thrown from the carriage, prompted Morgan 82 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:54,600 Speaker 1: to devise a safer system. The design he came up 83 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:58,480 Speaker 1: with was a cross shaped pole that featured three hand 84 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:03,600 Speaker 1: cranked light up command ends, stop, go, and an unlabeled 85 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: warning light. This unique third signal served as an all 86 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:13,160 Speaker 1: directional stoplight. It halted traffic in all directions, giving cars 87 00:06:13,279 --> 00:06:17,160 Speaker 1: enough time to exit the intersection and pedestrians enough time 88 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:21,160 Speaker 1: to safely cross the street. Morgan applied for a patent 89 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:25,400 Speaker 1: on February twenty seventh, nineteen twenty two, and received it 90 00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:30,039 Speaker 1: nine months later on November twenty The timeline gets a 91 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:33,960 Speaker 1: little muddy after that, but it's believed that the inventors 92 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:37,680 Speaker 1: soon sold the rights to the General Electric Corporation for 93 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:43,240 Speaker 1: forty thousand dollars. From there, GE began installing three light 94 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:47,800 Speaker 1: signals in cities across the country, presumably saving countless lives 95 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:52,680 Speaker 1: in the process. Versions of these manually operated traffic signals 96 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:56,479 Speaker 1: remained in use throughout North America until they were finally 97 00:06:56,520 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 1: replaced by the automatic signals were familiar with today. Morgan's 98 00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 1: traffic light debuted at the peak of his career, but 99 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:07,880 Speaker 1: it was just one of many innovations he developed in 100 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: his lifetime. Another of his notable inventions was a precursor 101 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:16,800 Speaker 1: to the modern gas mask, a life saving safetyhood that 102 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 1: allowed the wearer to breathe fresh air through a tube. 103 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:24,600 Speaker 1: Morgan continued to find outlets for his creativity and love 104 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 1: of problem solving all the way up to his death 105 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:30,680 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty three at the age of eighty six. 106 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,720 Speaker 1: If you'd like to see some of Morgan's handiwork for yourself, 107 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 1: you can find the original wooden prototype of his traffic 108 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 1: signal at Smithsonian's American History Museum, as well as a 109 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:48,480 Speaker 1: metal production model at Cleveland's Western Reserve Historical Society. And 110 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:51,240 Speaker 1: if you're interested in hearing more about the development of 111 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: traffic signals in the inventors behind the various models, I 112 00:07:55,520 --> 00:08:00,160 Speaker 1: recommend a twenty nineteen episode of our sister podcast If 113 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: you missed in history class, it's called The Rise of 114 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 1: the Traffic Light, and Holly and Tracy do a great 115 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:10,800 Speaker 1: job charting the twists and turns in the invention's history. 116 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:15,560 Speaker 1: That's it for today's show. I'm Gabe Lousier and hopefully 117 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:18,680 Speaker 1: you now know a little more about history today than 118 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:21,800 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. If you have a second and you're 119 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 1: into this kind of thing, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, 120 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:30,240 Speaker 1: and Instagram at t d i HC Show. Also, I'm 121 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:33,439 Speaker 1: taking a poll on how people interpret a yellow traffic 122 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:37,959 Speaker 1: light doesn't mean caution, prepare to stop or hurry up? 123 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:41,360 Speaker 1: Here comes red. You can send your answers to this 124 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:45,360 Speaker 1: day at I heart media dot com. Thanks to Chandler 125 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 1: May's for producing the show, and thank you for listening. 126 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:51,440 Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another day 127 00:08:51,679 --> 00:09:01,559 Speaker 1: in History class. For more podcasts from I Heeart Radio, 128 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:04,280 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 129 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:05,440 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.