Elijah McCoy (May 2, 1844 – October 10, 1929) was an inventor of Canadian but of African American descent. His creation of the lubricating cup changed the efficiency of steam engines in the 19th century. Born in 1844 in Colchester, Ontario, he was one of 11 siblings of runaway slave parents who fled from Kentucky to Canada via the Underground Railroad. McCoy always showed an interest in machinery. Due to segregation in Canada, he went to Scotland and after apprenticeship and study at the University of Edinburgh, and was certified as a mechanical engineer. He then moved to Michigan, with his family, where he was unable to find work as an engineer due to his race. Eventually he found work as a fireman and oiler for the Michigan Central Railroad, and it was here where McCoy made his first invention, the lubricating cup in 1872.
McCoy was able to patent his invention and increase steam engine profitability. Over the next thirty years, he obtained 57 patents and worked as a consultant to several big engineering firms. He is cited as producing the most patents for any African-American of his time. McCoy later started the Elijah McCoy Manufacturing Company, which produced lubricators for steam engines. Other inventions that he made include the folding ironing table, a lawn sprinkler, and rubber heels for shoes.
The term “the Real McCoy” arose out of this time to mean the real thing. This was related to his oil-drip cup, which many others tried to pass off duplicates in order to increase sales. Buyers, often railroad engineers, would ask for the original design to avoid being duped. He passed away in 1929, and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame posthumously in 2001.
References:
- https://www.biography.com/inventors/elijah-mccoy
- https://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/mccoy-elijah
- https://www.invent.org/inductees/elijah-mccoy
- https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/mccoy-elijah-1843-1929/
Image Source:
Creative Commons License – Ypsilanti Historical Society