Black is really beautiful, and we must be proud of it Henry Edwin Baker, 1859-1928 Henry was the third African American to enter the United States Naval Academy. He later served as an assistant patent examiner in the United States Patent Office, where he would chronicle the history of African-American inventors. What we know about early African American innovators comes mostly from his work. Around 1900, the Patent Office conducted a survey to gather information about Black inventors and their inventions. Many slaves who were inventors automatically lost rights to their inventions to their slave master. Letters were sent to patent attorneys, company presidents, newspaper editors, and prominent African-Americans. Henry Baker recorded the replies and followed-up on leads. Henry Baker’s research also provided the information used to select Black inventions exhibited at the Cotton Centennial in New Orleans, the World’s Fair in Chicago, and the Southern Exposition in Atlanta. He took it upon himself to make sure that African-Americans who were awarded patents by the United States Government would be “unofficially” documented. This was very unique and important decision since the U.S. Patent office has never recorded culture or racial identity on patent applications. To accomplish this Henry Baker made a mark (only recognizable by him) on the forms of known African-American inventors who had submitted patents to the Patent Office. Using these marked forms he compiled one of the most important records in African-American history. These documents have become known as “The Henry Baker Papers.” Without them we would never have known the magnitude of the African-American contribution to society and the world. By the time of his death, Henry Baker had compiled four massive volumes. blackisreallybeautiful.wordpress/
Posted on: Sun, 27 Oct 2013 15:50:24 +0000
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