Granville T. Woods- Black Inventor, Sued By Edison

David Head, Granville T. Woods Historian joins The Gist of Freedom with host Preston Washington!   David will discuss the book Black Abolitionists and Emigrationists.

Granville T. Woods Woods' most important invention was the multiplex telegraph, also known as the "induction telegraph," or block system, in 1887?. The device allowed men to communicate by voice over telegraph wires, ultimately helping to speed up important communications and, subsequently, preventing crucial errors such as train accidents. Woods defeated Thomas Edison's lawsuit that challenged his patent, and turned down Edison's offer to make him a partner. Thereafter, Woods was often known as "Black Edison."

After receiving the patent for the multiplex telegraph, Woods reorganized his Cincinnati company as the Woods Electric Co. In 1890, he moved his own research operations to New York City, where he was joined by a brother, Lyates Woods, who also had several inventions of his own.