A. J. Beard's Jenny Coupler:
Patent No. 594.059 Was Awarded November 23, 1897, To Black Inventor, Andrew Jackson Beard.
Despite Having No Formal Education In
Engineering And Metalwork, Beard Invented An Automatic Railroad Car Coupling Device Called The Jenny Coupler.
Prior To The Jenny Coupler, Trains Were Joined Together Manually, Causing Thousands Of Railroad Workers To Lose Hands, Arms And Even Their Lives.
Born In Eastlake, Alabama, In 1850, Beard
Labored
For Years In Railroad Yards Where He Personally Witnessed Tragic
Accidents, When Workers Tried To The Rapid Procedure Of Manually
Coupling Train Cars With A Pin.
Beard Sold His Lifesaving Invention To A
Company For $50,000.00.
"In Order For Black History To Live, We Must Continue To Breathe Life Into It." -- Hubert Gaddy, Jr.