The Morgan Traffic Signal Question

Garrett Morgan (March 4, 1877–July 27, 1963) was an inventor and businessman from Cleveland who is best known for inventing a device called the Morgan Safety Hood and Smoke Protector in 1914. The invention was later dubbed the gas mask.

In 1920, Morgan moved into the newspaper business when he established the “Cleveland Call.” As the years went on, he became a prosperous and widely respected businessman and was able to purchase a home and an automobile, invented by Henry Ford in 1903. In fact, Morgan was the first African American to purchase an automobile in Cleveland, and it was Morgan’s experience while driving along the streets of that city that inspired him to invent an improvement to traffic signals.

After witnessing a collision between an automobile and a horse-drawn carriage, Morgan took his turn at in- venting a traffic signal. While other inventors had experimented with, marketed, and even patented traffic sig- nals, Morgan was one of the first to apply for and acquire a U.S. patent for an inexpensive way to produce a traffic signal. The patent was granted on November 20, 1923. Morgan also had his invention patented in Great Britain and Canada.

Morgan stated in his patent for the traffic signal:

“This invention relates to traffic signals, and particularly to those which are adapted to be positioned adjacent the intersection of two or more streets and are manually operable for directing the flow of traffic…In addition, my invention contemplates the provision of a signal which may be readily and cheaply manufactured.”

The Morgan traffic signal was a T-shaped pole unit that featured three positions: Stop, Go, and an all- directional stop position. This “third position” halted traffic in all directions to allow pedestrians to cross streets more safely.

Morgan’s hand-cranked semaphore traffic management device was in use throughout North America until all manual traffic signals were replaced by the automatic red-, yellow-, and green-light traffic signals currently used around the world. The inventor sold the rights to his traffic signal to the General Electric Corporation for $40,000.

Other Inventions:
Though the traffic signal came at the height of his career and became one of his most famous inventions, it was just one of several innovations he developed, manufactured, and sold over the years.

~ Biography of Garrett Morgan, Inventor of the Gas Mask (thoughtco.com)