Joe Bar

Black History Month Hoaxes Day 3: A Black Man, Garrett Morgan, Invented the First Modern Traffic Signal in 1923 Variations of the claim include that he invented the traffic light, the first modern traffic light, or at least the first traffic light with all three colors. None of these claims are even remotely true. Lester Wire, a Salt Lake City policeman, invented the first red/green electric traffic signal in 1912. Dubbed the “birdfeeder” style, it became the standard. The first units were installed in downtown Salt Lake City. In 1914, the first multi-directional electric traffic lights were installed in Cleveland. Though they had three bulbs per side, they still used only red and green. A team of city engineers designed them. William Potts, a Detroit policeman, invented the first three-color electric traffic light, adding yellow. The first units were installed in Detroit in 1920. In 1922, Houston, Texas, unveiled the first electric traffic signals rigged with automatic timers. No human operator was needed anymore. In 1922, Garrett Morgan filed a patent for a traditional cross-shaped traffic signal with “Stop” and “Go” signs. It was based on dozens of existing designs already in use. His patent proposed adding one amber light bulb for warning. It had to be hand-operated. The U.S. Department of Transportation website claims General Electric bought his patent for $40,000. No source is provided for this claim. Even if true, Morgan’s design appears never to have been produced; it would have been obsolete by the time the patent was issued. No surviving photos exist of his traffic signal in use. No original examples survive. There are only crude “reproductions” that have been constructed for Black nationalist museum exhibits. Morgan developed Black hair care products, started a country club for Blacks, and was active with the NAACP. He is one of the original Black inventors whose achievements have been wildly exaggerated and embellished by Black nationalists.