Garrett Morgan, an African-American inventor, is recognized for his wide range of interests and inventions. He is best known for his development of the gas mask and the automatic traffic signal, but he also gained recognition for perfecting a hair-straightening cream and a belt fastener device for sewing machines. Born in Paris, Kentucky, the seventh of eleven children, Morgan, like other indigents in the poverty belt, quit school at age fourteen and went to the city to look for work. Morgan moved first to Cincinnati, where he worked at odd jobs for four years. Then he moved on to Cleveland and found a job at a sewing machine repair company.

In 1907, Morgan opened his own sewing machine sales and repair shop. Two years later, he opened his own tailoring shop, and employed 32 people to make coats, suits, and dresses. Morgan encountered a problem in his sewing business: the...