SHARON J. BARNES

Barnes is a chemist at Dow Chemical, and as a member of a team of five--which includes two African Americans--was assigned a U.S. patent for an application in infra-red thermography. The invention includes a process and apparatus for determining the temperature of a sample without contacting the sample itself.

OTIS BOYKIN

Boykin (1920-1982) was born in Dallas, Texas, and attended Fisk University and Illinois Institute of Technology in 1946-1947. One of his first achievements was a type of resistor used in computers, radios, television sets, and a variety of electronic devices. Some of his other inventions included a variable resistor used in guided missiles, plus 26 other electronic devices including a control unit for an artificial heart stimulator (pacemaker). Other Boykin inventions are a burglar-proof cash register and a chemical air filter. He worked as a private consultant for several American firms and three Paris firms from 1964 to 1982. Ironically, the man who invented a device to stimulate heart action died in Chicago of heart failure.

CLARENCE L. ELDER

Elder (1935- ) was born in Georgia in 1935 and headed his own research and development firm in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1976 he received a patent for a monitoring and energy conservation control system called an Occustat, which is designed to reduce energy use in temporarily vacant homes and buildings, boosting energy savings up to 30 per cent.

SARAH GOODE

Goode was the first African American women to receive a U.S. patent, issued in 1885 for a cabinet bed. As the owner of a Chicago furniture store, Goode thought to help people maximize their limited space, so she invented what she called a "Folding Cabinet Bed," which resembled a desk and included compartments for stationary and writing instruments.

THOMAS L. JENNINGS

Jennings (1791-1859) was born in New York, N.Y., where he worked as a tailor and operated a dry-cleaning business. At the age of 30 he became the first African American to hold a U.S. patent, which was issued for a dry-cleaning process. Jennings' income went mostly to his abolitionist activities, and in 1831 he became assistant secretary for the First Annual Convention of the People of Color in Philadelphia, PA. Whereas slaves were prohibited by law from receiving patents on their inventions, free black inventors were able to receive patents, although most did not.