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Catalog Data

Creator:
Anacostia Museum  Search this
James, Portia P.  Search this
Names:
Anacostia Community Museum  Search this
Anacostia Neighborhood Museum  Search this
Baker, Henry E. (Henry Edwin), 1859-1928  Search this
Banneker, Benjamin, 1731-1806  Search this
Carver, George Washington, 1864?-1943  Search this
Davidson, Shelby J. (Shelby Jeames), 1868-1930  Search this
Forten, James, 1766-1842  Search this
Harper, Solomon, 1893-  Search this
Jennings, Thomas L.  Search this
Joyner, Marjorie Stewart, 1896-1994  Search this
Latimer, Lewis Howard, 1848-1928  Search this
Matzeliger, Jan Ernst, 1852-1889  Search this
McCoy, Elijah, 1844-1929  Search this
Montgomery, Benjamin  Search this
Morgan, Garrett A., 1877-1963  Search this
Murray, George W. (George Washington), 1853-1926  Search this
Rillieux, Norbert, 1806-1894  Search this
Temple, Lewis  Search this
Walker, C. J., Madam, 1867-1919  Search this
Woods, Granville, 1856-1910  Search this
Collection Creator:
Smithsonian Institution. Anacostia Community Museum  Search this
Extent:
1 Sound recording (open reel, 1/4 inch)
Type:
Archival materials
Sound recordings
Narration
Place:
Anacostia (Washington, D.C.)
Washington (D.C.)
United States
Date:
circa 1989
Scope and Contents:
During the audio tour of exhibition, The Real McCoy: African-American Invention and Innovation, narrator Robert Hall presents contributions made by black inventors to American technology from 1619 to 1930. Inventions and innovations by Benjamin Banneker, Elijah McCoy, Lewis Latimer, James Forten, Lewis Temple, Norbert Rillieux, Ned (slave), Benjamin Montgomery, George Washington Carver, Solomon Harper, Madame C.J. Walker, and Marjorie Joyner, among others, are highlighted. This history, challenges, and successes of patent licensing for inventions created by black inventors, including the question of patents for inventions created by slaves, are discussed.
Audio tour narration. Part of The Real McCoy: Afro-American Invention and Innovation 1619-1930 Audiovisual Materials. Undated.
Biographical / Historical:
The exhibition - The Real McCoy: African-American Invention and Innovation, 1619-1930 - focused on outstanding black inventors, as well as anonymous innovators, who, as slaves, craftsmen and workers, made important contributions to the United States. Included are actual inventions, such an Jan Matzelieger's "shoe-lasting" machine, which revolutionized shoe production, and Garrett Morgan's safety hood and automatic traffic signal, forerunners of the modern gas mask and traffic stop light. The exhibition examines such topics as African influences on Colonial technology and how the slave system stymied technological innovation. Individual inventors such as Lewis Temple, Elijah McCoy, James Forten, and Norbert Rillieux are profiled. Also featured are artifacts from some of the expositions of the late 19th-century, which celebrated this new surge of black inventiveness. The exhibition was curated by Portia James and organized by the Anacostia Museum. It was held at the museum from May 1989 - May 1990.
General:
Title transcribed from physical asset.
Series Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Some items are not accessible due to obsolete format and playback machinery restrictions. Please contact the archivist at acmarchives@si.edu.
Topic:
African Americans  Search this
African American women  Search this
African American inventors  Search this
Inventors  Search this
Inventions  Search this
Technology  Search this
Technological innovations  Search this
Patents  Search this
Patent laws and legislation  Search this
Enslaved persons  Search this
Slavery  Search this
Museum exhibits  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Narration
Citation:
The Real McCoy: Audio Tour with Robert Hall, Exhibition Records AV03-026, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
ACMA.03-026, Item ACMA AV002680
See more items in:
The Real McCoy: Afro-American invention and innovation, 1619-1930 exhibition records
The Real McCoy: Afro-American invention and innovation, 1619-1930 exhibition records / Series ACMA AV03-026: The Real McCoy: Afro-American Invention and Innovation, 1619-1930 audiovisual records
Archival Repository:
Anacostia Community Museum Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/qa746804e5f-9980-4f67-a702-5c39979397ea
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-acma-03-026-ref505