Granville Taylor Woods

About the Book

By 1907, Mr. Granville Taylor Woods was the first Black American who was granted 49 patents and was titled the "Black Edison" in news articles from the 1900s. Mr. Woods was a pioneer in power distribution, telegraph communication, and safety for the railway industry. Granville Taylor Woods sold eight patents to the General Electrical Company, Harry Ward Leonard, Westinghouse Air Brake Company, and various individuals or investment partners. The ultimate goal of this book is to provide standard concepts in presenting accurate interpretations of patents granted to Granville Taylor Woods. This book is not intended to dispute, dishonor, or argue for or against a particular accomplishment by Granville Taylor Woods. Rather, the author aims to furnish a concise way to present the material in layman’s terms. To put something in layman’s terms is to describe a complex or technical issue using words and terms that an average individual may comprehend the basic concept. The material is divided into five (5) sections related to Mr. Woods: Introduction, birthplace of Granville Woods, list of patents, list of patent assignments, and photos with a description of each patent granted to Mr. Woods. The introduction provides the purpose of the book, the author’s approach, and fundamental patent terminology. Section two contains the most reliable source of Granville Woods’ birthplace and his whereabouts as a young adult and teenager. This source of information is extracted through the United States Federal Census that is closest to Mr. Woods’ birth. Section three is concentrated on a brief explanation that verifies the number of patents granted to Granville Taylor Woods in addition to patents he assigned to individuals, partners, or companies. Section four is centered on patent assignments by Granville Taylor Woods since the majority of patents were assigned to individuals, partners, or companies. Section five is the focal point of this book because the original images of Mr. Woods’ patent drawings will be displayed, both front and back. This is the most exciting part of the book!

About the Author

There were four major events in the life of Jonathan Walker that harvested the foundation for him to be the first African American electrical engineer to publish an exhaustive list of patents granted to Granville Taylor Woods: (a) three years of high school electronics, (b) electronics training in the US Marine Corps, (c) an electrical engineering degree from Howard University, and (d) a license as a professional engineer (PE) after obtaining a master of science degree from Johns Hopkins University. The majority of achievements were accomplished because of a very supportive wife and adult children.