Supporting Question

Why does Elijah McCoy’s story matter?

For the formative performance task, use the sources to answer the following questions:

  • What are the important events in this person’s life? What emotions did this person experience throughout their life?

  • What did this person invent? What other inventions have been done in this area?

  • What do we know about the biases this person faced and how they responded? How did their responses compare to other people of their time?

  • How much—if at all—did the person’s life change after their inventions? Did they receive credit for their invention? Did they profit from it?

  • In what ways did this person address social issues of their day?

Featured Sources

Source A

U.S. Patent 129,843, “Improvement in Lubricators for Steam-Engines,” 1872

Link to Source A

Source B

U.S. Patent 614,307, "Oil Cup," 1898

Link to Source B

Source C

Elijah McCoy Biography: Black Inventors in History Mini-Documentary, Fresberg Cartoon, 2020.

Link to Source C

Alternative Source C

Elijah McCoy: Stories of Courage - Episode 3, New Hampshire Department of Education, 2022.

Link to Alternative Source C

Source D

U.S. Patent 150,876, "Ironing-Tables," 1874

Link to Source D

Source E

U.S. Design Patent 31,549, “Lawn Sprinkler,” 1899

Link to Source E

Source F

U.S. Patent 1,127,789, “Tread for Tires,” 1915

Link to Source F

Source G

All Aboard! Elijah McCoy’s Steam Engine, Monica Kulling and Bill Slavin, 2013

Link to Source G
Purchase the Book

Source H

How a Steam Locomotive Works, Nashville Steam, 2022.

Link to Source H