George Franklin Grant, Harvard dentist and inventor of the wooden golf tee

George Franklin Grant, Harvard dentist and inventor of the wooden golf tee

George Franklin Grant  established himself in the world of business, after entering Harvard’s School of Dental Medicine, becoming the university’s first African-American faculty staff member. It was Grant’s invention and patenting of a golf tee that would later gain him notoriety. In 1899, Grant was awarded a patent for a wood golf tee fashioned after British inventor Percy Ellis’ “Perfectum” tee.

Mary Edmonia Lewis, savvy sculptor and businesswoman

Mary Edmonia Lewis owns the distinction of being the first African American recognized as a sculptor and achieving international stardom as a result. Although she began her career in Boston, she would move to Rome and continued her successful career. Of note, Lewis was known for her savvy business skills and abilities to garner sales of her work by using raffles, advertising, and other marketing tools.

Lewis Howard Latimer, master draftsman and inventor Lewis Latimer

Lewis Howard Latimer (pictured right) was born the son of an escaped slave in New Jersey on September 4, 1848. As a young man, he landed a job at a patent law firm and showed proficiency at drafting designs for the firm. Along with his work as the head draftsman at the law firm, Latimer helped invent and patent a series of useful inventions in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Chief among those inventions was his discovery of a process used for electric filament manufacturing in light bulbs. Working for a variety of electronic companies in the New York area, he eventually landed a job at General Electric as chief draftsman and a coordinator of patent licensing and regulation.