Elijah McCoy: Engineer and Inventor

Elijah J. McCoy was born in 1844 to former slaves from Kentucky who escaped to Canada on the Underground Railroad. At the age of 15, his parents arranged for him to travel to Scotland where he apprenticed and, after studying at the University of Edinburgh, received a mechanical engineering degree.

Despite his qualifications and training, McCoy was unable to find work as an engineer in the United States due to racial barriers, as skilled professional positions were not available for African Americans. McCoy eventually accepted a position as a fireman and oiler for the Michigan Central Railroad which is where he developed his first patented invention in 1872. McCoy’s patented device was quickly adopted by the railroads, as it enabled trains to run faster and more profitably with less need to stop for lubrication and maintenance. By 1899, the Michigan Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics reported that the McCoy lubricator was in use on almost all North American railroads.

After the turn of the century, McCoy attracted notice as having produced more patents than any other African American inventor up to that time. He continued to invent until late in life, obtaining as many as 57 patents. His inventions and accomplishments were honored in 2012 when the United States Patent and Trademark Office named its first regional office, in Detroit, Michigan, the “Elijah J. McCoy Midwest Regional Patent Office.”