Editing Garrett Morgan (section)

==Products and inventions==
===Hair care products===
Morgan conducted experiments with a liquid that gave sewing machine needles a high polish, that prevented the needle from burning fabric as it sewed. In 1905, Morgan accidentally discovered that the liquid could straighten hair.<ref name=ClevelandHistory/> After he discovered this, he wiped the liquid on a piece of pony fur cloth and it stood straight. He observed that the liquid worked on his neighbor's dog and his own hair.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=David E. |title=Inventing Modern America: from the microwave to the mouse |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-262-26936-0 |location=Cambridge, MA |pages=106–107 |language=English}}</ref> 

He made the liquid into a refining cream and launched the ''G. A. Morgan Hair Refining Company'' to market it. Morgan received great success and added other products including "hair-growing" cream, black hair oil dye, and a curved-tooth comb for hair straightening in 1910.<ref name="CAH">{{Cite web |title=Garrett Morgan, African-American Inventor of the Traffic Light and Gas Mask |url=https://www.clevelandpeople.com/groups/africanamerican/garret-morgan.htm |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=www.clevelandpeople.com}}</ref>

=== Traffic signal ===
{{Main|History of traffic lights}}

Following the success of his company, Morgan became a well-known citizen in Cleveland and achieved financial success leading to his purchasing of a new automobile. In 1922, he witnessed an accident between a horse-drawn carriage and a car which sparked inspiration to prevent future accidents. Morgan designed a manually-operated traffic signal with moving arms featuring "stop" and "go" signs, which could be placed on a post at traffic intersections. The arms could be raised halfway to indicate caution moving forward. A traffic attendant would crank the post to operate the signal and all lanes could be stopped by showing "stop" if needed.<ref name=":0" /> In 1923, Morgan patented his traffic signal. He later sold the rights to General Electric for $40,000.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=David E. |title=Inventing modern America: from the microwave to the mouse |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-262-26936-0 |location=Cambridge, MA |pages=106–107 |language=English}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:US1475024-drawings-page-1.png|Traffic signal design
File:Morgan2.png|Traffic signal design
</gallery>

===Smoke hood ===
[[File:morgan rescue.jpg|thumb|400 px|A newspaper photograph of Morgan's rescue in 1916]]
Garrett Morgan invented a "safety hood smoke protection device" after seeing firefighters struggling to withstand the suffocating smoke they encountered in the line of duty.<ref name=PBS>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/morgan_hi.html Who Made America? Pioneers: Garrett Augustus Morgan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614094008/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/morgan_hi.html |date=June 14, 2020 }} [[PBS]].org.</ref> His device used a moist sponge to filter out smoke and cool the air.<ref name=SafetyHood>[https://web.archive.org/web/20030220141343/http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/morgan.html Inventor of the Week: Garrett A. Morgan: The Safety Hood], [[MIT]], February 1997.</ref> It took advantage of the way smoke and fumes tend to rise to higher positions while leaving a layer of more breathable air below, by using an air intake tube that dangled near the floor.<ref name=FHWA/> 

The hood used a series of tubes to draw clean air of the lowest level the tubes could extend to. Smoke, being hotter than the air around it, rises, and by drawing air from the ground, the Safety Hood provided the user with a way to perform emergency respiration. In 1912, he filed for a patent for the device.<ref name=FHWA/><ref>{{Citation|last=Morgan|first=Garrett A.|title=Breathing device.|date=March 24, 1914|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US1090936|access-date=May 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020063846/http://www.google.com/patents/US1090936|archive-date=October 20, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last1=Brewer|first1=Mary Jane|last2=Clevel|first2=Special to|last3=.com|date=February 12, 2020|title=Curator speaks about Medina's Little Wiz Fire Museum|url=https://www.cleveland.com/community/2020/02/little-wiz-fire-museum-curator-shares-history-of-firefighting-in-medina.html|access-date=July 29, 2020|website=cleveland|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221022806/https://www.cleveland.com/community/2020/02/little-wiz-fire-museum-curator-shares-history-of-firefighting-in-medina.html|archive-date=February 21, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1914, he founded a company called the National Safety Device Company to market it. He was able to sell his invention around the country, sometimes using the tactic of hiring a white actor, who would take credit rather than revealing himself as its inventor.<ref name=PBS/> 

For demonstrations of the device, he sometimes adopted the disguise of "Big Chief Mason," a purported full-blooded Indian from the [[Walpole Island First Nation|Walpole Island Indian Reserve]] in Canada.<ref>{{cite book | title = Inventive Genius | publisher = Time-Life Books | location = New York | year = 1991 | isbn = 0-8094-7699-1 | page = [https://archive.org/details/inventivegenius00time/page/40 40] | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/inventivegenius00time/page/40 }}</ref> He would demonstrate the device by building a noxious fire fueled by tar, sulfur, [[formaldehyde]], and manure inside an enclosed tent.<ref name=FHWA/> Disguised as "Big Chief Mason," he would enter the tent full of black smoke, and would remain there for 20 minutes before emerging unharmed.<ref name=FHWA/>

A successful demonstration occurred in Cleveland, Ohio. A representative of the company, Mr. Mason, entered a poisonous building with Morgan's hood on his head and remained in that environment for twenty minutes. The test was satisfactory according to Chief Stickle of the Cleveland Fire Department, who said that the device was much cheaper and simpler than the oxygen mask used during that time. Following the demonstration, Chief Stickle recommended the purchase of several smoke hoods for the fire department.<ref name=FHWA/>

Mr. Mason continued to make demonstrations in Ravenna, Youngstown, Canton, and other neighboring cities in Ohio where the device was proclaimed a success. Many large cities throughout the United States had Morgan's Smoke Hood in their fire departments, hospitals, asylums, and ammonia factories, and were using them satisfactorily. His safety hood device was simple and effective, whereas the other devices in use at the time were generally difficult to put on, excessively complex, unreliable, or ineffective.<ref name=FHWA/> 

It was patented<ref>{{Citation|last=Morgan|first=Garrett A.|title=Breathing device.|date=October 13, 1914|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US1113675|access-date=May 23, 2016}}</ref> and awarded a gold medal two years later by the [[International Association of Fire Chiefs]]. Morgan's safety hood was used to save many lives during the period of its use.<ref name=FHWA/>

He developed later models that incorporated an airbag, that could hold about 15 minutes of fresh air.<ref name=FHWA/><ref name="Black Inventor" />

In 1916, his invention became known nationally when he led a rescue that saved several men's lives after the July 24, Waterworks Tunnel explosion in Cleveland, Ohio.<ref name="FHWA">{{cite book|last=Sisson|first=Mary|title=Inventors and Inventions|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7614-7767-9|editor1-last=Cavendish|editor1-first=Marshall|volume=4|pages=1101–1107|chapter=Garrett Morgan|publisher=Marshall Cavendish |quote=Later designs would include an airbag containing about 15 minutes' worth of fresh air.|chapter-url=}}</ref><ref name=SafetyHood/><ref name="Erie Tunnel fire">{{cite news| title=22 Men Killed Under Lake Fire| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19160725&id=wyddAAAAIBAJ&pg=1404,2973993| access-date=October 1, 2013| newspaper=[[Lawrence Journal-World]] | date=July 25, 1916| location=Lawrence, Kansas| page=1| volume=LX| format=On-Line Google News Archive}} Note: This source for the tunnel fire makes no mention of Morgan by name, save ''"The second [rescue expedition] saved one of first rescue expedition"''</ref> Before Morgan arrived, two previous rescue attempts had failed. The attempted rescuers had become victims themselves by entering the tunnel and not returning. Morgan was roused in the middle of the night after one of the members of the rescue team who had seen a demonstration of his device sent a messenger to convince him to come and to bring as many of his Safety Hoods as he could.<ref name=FHWA/> He and his brother Frank, arrived on the scene still wearing their pajamas and bringing four Smoke Hoods with them.<ref name=FHWA/><ref name="Black Inventor" /><ref name=SafetyHood/>  

Most of the rescuers on the scene were initially skeptical of his device, so he and his brother went into the tunnel along with two other volunteers, and pulled out two men from the previous rescue attempts.<ref name=FHWA/><ref name=SafetyHood/>  He emerged carrying a victim on his back, and his brother followed just behind with another.<ref name="Black Inventor" /> Others joined in after his team succeeded, and rescued several more.<ref name=FHWA/> His device was also used to retrieve the bodies of the rescuers that did not survive.  Morgan personally made four trips into the tunnel during the rescue, and his health was affected for years afterward from the fumes he encountered there.<ref name=FHWA/>  

Cleveland newspapers and city officials initially ignored Morgan's act of heroism as the first to rush into the tunnel for the rescue, and the key role he played as the provider of the equipment that made the rescue possible. It took years for the city to recognize his contributions. The mayor, Harry L. Davis, failed to put Garrett Morgan's name on the list of recommended heroes.<ref name=PBS/><ref name=FHWA/> 

City officials requested that the [[Carnegie Hero Fund|Carnegie Hero Fund Commission]] issue medals to several of the men involved in the rescue, but excluded Morgan from their request.<ref name=FHWA/> Morgan believed that the omission was racially motivated.  Morgan's suspicions were confirmed by Victor M. Sincere of the Bailey Company in his statement to the Citizens Award Committee. "Your deed should serve to help break down the shafts of prejudice with which you struggle. And is sure to be the beacon of light for those that follow you in the battles of life."<ref name=FHWA/> 

In 1917, a group of [[Cleveland]] citizens tried to correct for the omission by presenting him with a diamond-studded gold medal.<ref name=FHWA/> After the heroic rescue Morgan's company received more order requests from fire departments all over the country. However, the national news contained photographs of him, and officials a number of southern cities canceled their existing orders when they discovered he was black.  Morgan said in his diary, "I had but a little schooling, but I am a graduate from the school of hard knocks and cruel treatment. I have personally saved nine lives."

He was given a medal from the [[Institution of Fire Engineers|International Association of Fire Engineers]], which made him an honorary member.<ref name="Black Inventor" />

<gallery>
File:US1113675-drawings-page-1.png|Smoke hood design
File:US1113675-drawings-page-2.png|Smoke hood design
</gallery>