African-Americans have been the victims of oppression, discrimination and persecution throughout American history, with an impact on African-American innovation according to a 2014 study by economist
Lisa D. Cook, which linked violence towards African-Americans and lack of legal protections over the period from 1870 to 1940 with lowered innovation. Despite this, many black innovators have been responsible for a large number of major inventions. Among the earliest was
George Washington Carver, whose reputation was based on his
research into and promotion of alternative crops to cotton, which aided in nutrition for farm families. He wanted poor farmers to grow alternative crops both as a source of their own food and as a source of other products to improve their way of life. The most popular of his 44 practical bulletins for farmers contained 105 food recipes using peanuts. He also developed and promoted about 100 products made from peanuts that were useful for the house and farm. He received numerous honors for his work, including the
Spingarn Medal of the
NAACP. A later renowned scientist was
Percy Lavon Julian, a research chemist and a pioneer in the
chemical synthesis of medicinal
drugs from plants. He was the first to synthesize the natural product
physostigmine, and a pioneer in the industrial large-scale chemical synthesis of the human hormones,
steroids,
progesterone, and
testosterone, from
plant sterols such as
stigmasterol and sitosterol. His work would lay the foundation for the steroid drug industry's production of
cortisone, other
corticosteroids, and
birth control pills. A contemporary example of a modern-day inventor is
Lonnie George Johnson, an engineer. Johnson invented the
Super Soaker water gun, which was the top-selling toy in the United States from 1991 to 1992. In 1980 Johnson formed his own law firm and licensed the Super Soaker water gun to
Larami Corporation. Two years later, the Super Soaker generated over $200 million in retail sales and became the best selling toy in North America. Larami Corporation was eventually purchased by
Hasbro, the second largest toy manufacturer in the world. Over the years, Super Soaker sales have totaled close to one billion dollars. Johnson reinvested a majority of his earnings from the Super Soaker into research and development for his energy technology companies – "It's who I am, it's what I do." As of 2019, Johnson holds over 120 patents, with more pending, and is the author of several publications on spacecraft power systems. == List ==