Ohio inventions and firsts · Invention · 1905
Garrett Morgan's hair-straightening products
Garrett Morgan discovered a hair-straightening liquid by accident in 1905 and in 1913 founded the G. A. Morgan Hair Refining Company; earlier he repaired sewing machines.
At a glance
- Year
- 1905
- Company
- G.A. Morgan Hair Refining Company
- Place
- Cleveland, Cuyahoga County ZIP 44114 · Cleveland · Cuyahoga County
The story
Garrett Morgan was born in Kentucky on March 4, 1877 and had only a sixth-grade education, but he kept learning on his own. In 1905, according to Wikipedia, he discovered by accident a cream that straightened hair.
Morgan went on to start a hair care business in Cleveland, which he launched in 1913. It sold a hair-straightening cream among its products.
In the same years he worked on safety devices (the 1914 safety hood), a traffic signal (patent 1923), and community work: he co-founded the Cleveland Association of Colored Men in 1908 and founded the Cleveland Call newspaper.
He died in Cleveland on July 27, 1963, and Cleveland has several institutions named for him.
Timeline
- 1877-03-04: Garrett Morgan is born in Kentucky. (Kentucky) source
- 1905: Morgan accidentally discovers a hair-straightening cream. (Cleveland, OH) source
- 1908: He co-founds the Cleveland Association of Colored Men. (Cleveland, OH) source
- 1913: Morgan launches his hair care company. (Cleveland, OH) source
- 1914: Morgan patents the safety hood. (Cleveland, OH) source
- 1963-07-27: Morgan dies in Cleveland. (Cleveland, OH) source
What it changed
- Cleveland institutions bear his name.
Why it matters
Early Black-owned manufacturing business.
Further reading
Sources
Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.