AFRICAN-AMERICAN AUTOMOTIVE PIONEERS WHO CHANGED THE WAY WE DRIVE

To celebrate Black History Month and America’s diversity, McLarty Daniel Buick GMC of Bentonville is highlighting four of America’s most iconic African American figures in automotive history. In true American fashion, these individuals paved the way for change and influenced the automotive industry as we know it today. Without these innovators catalyzing change, our technology would not be where it is today.

George Washington Carver (1864-1943)

The child of former slaves, Carver was born in Missouri. Fascinated with the natural world from a young age, Carver became the first African American student at Iowa State Agricultural College. From there, he went on to be a major figure in modern botany and biology for his innovative work with the peanut and numerous ways to utilize the plant. He eventually…

served as head of the Department of Agriculture at the famous Tuskegee Institute and helped resuscitate the South’s agriculture after the Great Depression. In 1942, the agricultural chemist received an invitation from Ford Motor Company to work in Dearborn, Michigan. During his time with Ford, Carver helped develop a synthetic rubber to help wartime shortages, and would later go on to create an alternative form of motor vehicle fuel made from plants called biofuel, along with more than 100 other important advances.

Garrett Morgan (1877–1963)

Born in Kentucky, Morgan moved to Ohio at the age of 14 looking for work. Something of a mechanical genius, he worked several different jobs, first as a handyman and then repairing sewing machines. Morgan developed superb skills and was able to open his own repair shop in 1907. With much success, Morgan earned enough to purchase his own car, a luxury at the time. During his drives, Morgan noticed that the manually operated traffic lights at some main intersections were ineffective as they switched from “Stop” to “Go” with no warning, causing dangerous “panic stops” by drivers or simply running the “stop” signal. This led to Morgan inventing an interim warning signal between “Stop” and “Go” which became today’s yellow traffic light. The signal Morgan patented was a T-shaped pole with three settings, which would later influence the more familiar red/green/yellow traffic lights of today. He later sold the rights to his invention for $40,000 to General Electric. 

C.R. Patterson (1833–1910)

Born into slavery on a Virginia plantation in 1833, Patterson eventually made his way to Greenfield, Ohio, where he became a blacksmith. In 1873, Patterson joined forces with J.P. Lowe, a carriage maker in town, to form a profitable carriage building business. By the turn of the century, Patterson had become the sole proprietor of the business and renamed it C.R. Patterson & Sons. Seeing the boom in the automobile, Patterson and his firm began designing, and building vehicles under the name Greenfield-Patterson, including trucks, buses and passenger cars. Eventually the company employed an integrated workforce of about 50, and is considered the world’s first and only African-American owned and founded automobile company. At the height of their operation, the company listed 28 different models! They produced around 150 cars until the company stopped making vehicles to focus on vehicle repair in 1918.

Wendell Scott (1921–1990)

One of the pioneering African American racers, Wendell Scott was the Jackie Robinson of stock car racing! Born in Danville, Virginia, Scott learned to be an auto mechanic from his father. After serving in the Army during World War II, Scott opened his own auto shop and discovered the sport of auto racing. Since African Americans were not allowed to race in NASCAR, Scott raced in the Dixie Circuit. With his impressive skills on the track, NASCAR finally granted him a license, making him the first African American NASCAR driver in the sport’s history. From there, Scott would go to win the Jacksonville 200, becoming the first African American driver to win a NASCAR race in the top division. Before his retirement, Scott competed in 495 Grand National races. To commemorate his groundbreaking achievements, Scott was posthumously inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015.

The contributions made by these influential Americans guided the automobile industry and racing into what it is today, and shaped the American character. We at McLarty Daniel Buick GMC in Bentonville are very proud of that tradition of dedication and hard work, and make that same dedication a part of everything we do. When you’re ready to purchase your new vehicle, we look forward to serving you! 

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