In 1923, an inventor and entrepreneur named Garrett A. Morgan watched a tragic automobile accident from a street corner in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. While many would have thrown up their hands and said, “What can you do?” Morgan grew determined to prevent another such disaster. He went home and began sketching out ways to warn motorists approaching an intersection of oncoming traffic and improve safety.

In those days, traffic lights had two positions: “Stop” and “Go.” Morgan realized a “Slow” position could serve as a warning and save countless ideas. That same year he received the patent for the three-phase traffic signal.

The idea was so revolutionary that General Electric bought it in 1924. They paid Morgan $40,000 for the patent. That would have been the equivalent of $700,000 today. Not too shabby.

This form of recognition was a first for Morgan. The son of a slave had spent his career inventing life saving devices, even using them to save lives with his own hands, without any recognition.

Despite only completing the fifth grade, Morgan had a remarkable instinct for anything mechanical. One of his early jobs was in the garment industry, where he had the idea for the zigzag stitch pattern for sewing machines. He and his wife–and immigrant from what is now the Czech republic–founded a sewing company and ladies’ clothing store.

Morgan felt responsible for their 32 employees. When a tragic 1911 fire in the New York City “Triangle Shirtwaist” factory killed 146 workers, the news hit him hard. He read that most of the women working in the factory had died of smoke inhalation and rescue workers had been unable to get to them. He began work on a mask that would allow a firefighter to walk through a smokey or gases building.

In 1912 Morgan filed a patent for just such a “breathing device.” In 1914 the patent office approved his application.

Morgan built a bunch of samples and drove to various fire departments trying to sell them. But no one was buying. Then just before sunrise on the 25th of July 1916 firemen knocked on Morgan’s door. At 9:22 pm the night before, an explosion had collapsed a tunnel five miles from the shore of Lake Erie, burying tunnel workers.

Historian John Stark Bellamy wrote that the blast,  “was so powerful that it smashed and hurled the heavy concrete tunnel sections around, killing and burying the crew in a fiery holocaust of flame and dirt,” The fire department had tried desperately to reach the survivors, but all-in-all, the accident had already claimed 21 workers and rescuers. With no other options, they begged Morgan for help.

Sandra Morgan later told the Smithsonian that her grandfather didn’t hesitate to help. “He rustled his brother Frank…They threw a bunch of gas masks in the car — remember, they were selling these things — and in their pajamas, drove down to the lakefront.”

Morgan didn’t just hand the masks over to the fire department. He and his brother put on his invention and climbed into the collapsed tunnel themselves. The Cleveland Mayor was so sure the devices would fail, he told the men “Goodbye.”

The early prototypes weren’t 100% effective. The methane in the tunnel damaged Morgan’s lungs. But Garrett and Frank Morgan stayed underground until they’d dragged four bodies and two survivors to safety.

The national news covered the story, but never mentioned the Morgan brothers. The mayor awarded four medals to rescuers, but did not recognize the Morgans.

Morgan was undeterred. He went to work perfecting his gas mask. He modified them to withstand chlorine, phosgene, and mustard gas. Then he lent his invention to the military. By 1917 it was standard equipment for U.S. Army soldiers. And not a moment too soon. There is no way to tell just how many lives gas masks saved during WWI.

The scientific community didn’t recognize Morgan’s contribution to the gas mask. The tricky truth is that both the British and French Army contributed to the final design, and until 2022 a Scottish Dr. named John Scott Haldane was hailed as its sole inventor.

In 2022, the Times of London said, “The Smithsonian museum has conceded that a Black American invented the life-saving gas mask, not the Scottish physician who has been widely credited.”

So what did Morgan do when GE finally paid him for his work? The country clubs in Cleveland had denied him entry. So Morgan, who had co-funded the Cleveland Association of Colored Men in 1908, bought a farm and opened the Black Wakeman Country Club which offered dining, dancing, and horseback riding for members from as far away as Pittsburgh.

Today, fire departments across the country carry Garrett Morgan’s gas masks and his three-phase traffic lights protect millions of motorists. Morgan has finally been recognized with multiple posthumous awards and a 2022 short film. You can learn more about Morgan’s life in the video below: