Jump to content

Elijah McCoy: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Barek (talk | contribs)
83,022 edits
→‎Professional life: adjust sentence sequence for better flow
word change for better flow
Line 51: Line 51:
There is no consensus regarding the importance of McCoy's contribution to the field of lubrication. At one extreme, he is credited in some biographical sketches with revolutionizing the railroad or machine industries with his devices. At the same time, he is scarcely mentioned in the old [[lubrication]] literature; for example, his name is absent in [[E. L. Ahrons]]' ''Lubrication of Locomotives'' (1922) which does refer to several other early pioneers and companies of the field.
There is no consensus regarding the importance of McCoy's contribution to the field of lubrication. At one extreme, he is credited in some biographical sketches with revolutionizing the railroad or machine industries with his devices. At the same time, he is scarcely mentioned in the old [[lubrication]] literature; for example, his name is absent in [[E. L. Ahrons]]' ''Lubrication of Locomotives'' (1922) which does refer to several other early pioneers and companies of the field.


The saying ''[[the real McCoy]]'', meaning ''the real thing'', has in some cases been erroneously accredited to Elijah's invention. The theory is that railroad engineers looking to avoid inferior copies would inquire if a locomotive was fitted with "the real McCoy".<ref name=Quinion>[http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-mcc1.htm Michael Quinion, World Wide Words, 1996-2008]</ref> The original publication of this claim can be traced to a 1985 pamphlet printed by the Empak Publishing Company, who could not explain how they derived this claim.<ref>''See,'' Bennetta, William J. ''[http://www.textbookleague.org/102mcd.htm Did Somebody Say McTrash?]'' The Textbook League.</ref> This account is disputed as there are other earlier origins to the phrase that are more unanimously accepted by the writing community and by [[lexicographers]].<ref name=Quinion/> Other lubricators were already in widespread use and lubricators with his name were not produced until the 1920s, while alternate spellings of the phrase can be traced back to at least 1856.<ref>''See,'' ''[http://www33.brinkster.com/iiiii/mccoy/ The not-so-real McCoy] - Brinkster disputes "Real McCoy" story'' and sources cited therein.</ref>
The saying ''[[the real McCoy]]'', meaning ''the real thing'', has in some cases been erroneously accredited to Elijah's invention. The theory is that railroad engineers looking to avoid inferior copies would inquire if a locomotive was fitted with "the real McCoy".<ref name=Quinion>[http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-mcc1.htm Michael Quinion, World Wide Words, 1996-2008]</ref> The original publication of this claim can be traced to a 1985 pamphlet printed by the Empak Publishing Company, who could not explain how they developed the theory.<ref>''See,'' Bennetta, William J. ''[http://www.textbookleague.org/102mcd.htm Did Somebody Say McTrash?]'' The Textbook League.</ref> Other earlier origins to the phrase are unanimously accepted by the writing community and by [[lexicographers]].<ref name=Quinion/>


== Personal life ==
== Personal life ==

Revision as of 18:08, 7 January 2010

Elijah McCoy
BornMarch 27, 1843, or May 2, 1843 or 1844.
Colchester, Ontario, Canada[1]
DiedOctober 10, 1929 (1929-10-11)
Detroit, Michigan, United States
Resting placeDetroit Memorial Park East, Warren, Macomb County, Michigan, USA
NationalityUnited States
OccupationEngineer & Inventor
Spouse(s)Ann Elizabeth Stewart; Mary Eleanor Delaney
First page of US patent 129,843 for Improvement in Lubricators for Steam-Engines

Elijah J. McCoy (May 2, 1843[2] – October 10, 1929) was an African Canadian inventor and engineer, known for his many U.S. patents.

Professional life

After studying engineering in Edinburgh, Scotland, and returning home to Canada, he found work as a fireman and oiler at the Michigan Central Railroad. In a home-based machine shop in Ypsilanti, McCoy invented an automatic lubricator for oiling the steam engines of locomotives and boats. For this he obtained his first patent, "Improvement in Lubricators for Steam-Engines" (U.S. patent 129,843), on July 23, 1872.

Similar automatic oilers had been patented previously; one is the displacement lubricator which had already attained widespread use and whose technological descendants continued to be widely used into the 20th century. Lubricators were a boon for railroads, allowing trains to run faster and more profitably with less need to stop for lubrication and maintenance.[3]

McCoy continued to refine his devices and design new ones, and after the turn of the century attracted notice among his African-American contemporaries. Booker T. Washington in Story of the Negro (1909) recognized him as having produced more patents than any other black inventor up to that time. This output ultimately propelled McCoy to a heroic status in the African American community which has persisted to this day. He continued to invent until late in life, obtaining as many as 57 patents mostly related to lubrication, but also including a folding ironing board and a lawn sprinkler. Lacking the capital with which to manufacture his lubricators in large numbers, he usually assigned his patent rights to his employers or sold them to investors. Lubricators with the McCoy name were not manufactured until 1920, near the end of his career, when he formed the Elijah McCoy Manufacturing Company.[3]

There is no consensus regarding the importance of McCoy's contribution to the field of lubrication. At one extreme, he is credited in some biographical sketches with revolutionizing the railroad or machine industries with his devices. At the same time, he is scarcely mentioned in the old lubrication literature; for example, his name is absent in E. L. Ahrons' Lubrication of Locomotives (1922) which does refer to several other early pioneers and companies of the field.

The saying the real McCoy, meaning the real thing, has in some cases been erroneously accredited to Elijah's invention. The theory is that railroad engineers looking to avoid inferior copies would inquire if a locomotive was fitted with "the real McCoy".[4] The original publication of this claim can be traced to a 1985 pamphlet printed by the Empak Publishing Company, who could not explain how they developed the theory.[5] Other earlier origins to the phrase are unanimously accepted by the writing community and by lexicographers.[4]

Personal life

McCoy married Ann Elizabeth Stewart in 1868; she died four years later. He remarried the next year to Mary Eleanor Delaney and moved to Detroit. Mary McCoy was one of the founders of the Phillis Wheatley Home for Aged Colored Ladies in 1898.[6]

Elijah McCoy died in Detroit in 1929 at the age of 86, still suffering from injuries from a car accident seven years earlier that killed his second wife. McCoy had been a resident of the Eloise Hospital, a Sanatorium, also known as the Michigan State Asylum (now in Westland, Michigan), before his death, suffering from dementia.[7]

Legacy

In 1975, Detroit celebrated Elijah McCoy Day, as officials placed a historic marker at the site of his home. The city also named a street for him.[8]

In 2001, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio.[9]

In 2006, Canadian playwright Andrew Moodie wrote a play called The Real McCoy which chronicles the life of Elijah, his inventions and his personal tragedies until his death.

He is commemorated in other Michigan historical markers. One is at his home, 5720 Lincoln Avenue, Detroit, Michigan at the intersection of Elijah McCoy Drive. Michigan Registry of Historic Sites: P25170. Listed: November 14, 1974 in front of the Elijah McCoy Homes. The other is at his first workshop, in Ypsilanti, Michigan Registered Site S0642 which was erected in 1994.[10]

His remains are interred at Detroit Memorial Park East in Warren, Michigan.[11] This fact is noted on a Michigan Historical Marker.[12]

Notes

  1. ^ Elijah McCoy pictures at Argot language center.
  2. ^ Sources give his birthdate as May 2, 1843; May 2, 1844; or less commonly March 27, 1843.
  3. ^ a b See, The not-so-real McCoy - Brinkster disputes "Real McCoy" story.
  4. ^ a b Michael Quinion, World Wide Words, 1996-2008
  5. ^ See, Bennetta, William J. Did Somebody Say McTrash? The Textbook League.
  6. ^ Baulch, Vivian M. (1995-11-26). "How Detroit got its first black hospital". The Detroit News.
  7. ^ Elijah McCoy - Eloise Patient
  8. ^ Elijah McCoy home informational site.
  9. ^ National Inventors Hall of Fame, Elijah McCoy.
  10. ^ Michigan Historical markers.
  11. ^ Elijah McCoy memorial at Find a Grave
  12. ^ Michigan Historical markers

Further reading

  • Haber, Louis. Black Pioneers of Science and Invention. {Louis Haber: Books, 2007) ISBN 0152085661; ISBN 978-0152085667.
  • Haskins, James. Outward Dreams: Black Inventors and Their Inventions. (Walker, 1991) ISBN 9780802769930.
  • Hayden, Robert C. Nine Black American Inventors. (21st Century, 1997) 171 pages ISBN 0805021337; ISBN 978-0805021332.
  • Klein, Aaron E. The Hidden Contributors: Black Scientists and Inventors in America. (DoubleDay, October 1971) ISBN 0385006411, ISBN 978-0385006415.
  • Moodie, Andrew, The Real McCoy. ISBN 9780887549021.
  • Sullivan, Otha and Haskins, James, Black Stars: African American Inventors. (Jossey-Bass. April 21 1998) ISBN 0471148040, ISBN 978-0471148043.
  • Towle, Wendy and Wil Clay (Illustrator). The Real McCoy: The Life of an African American Inventor (A Blue Ribbon Book). (Scholastic, 1993.) ISBN 0-590-46134-6.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elijah_McCoy&oldid=336438460"