5 Historic Black Transportation Figures

Many don’t know all the black figures who made public transportation what it is today, like Claudette Colvin, who was actually the first black woman to refuse to give her a bus seat before Rosa Parks. In honor of Black History Month, we’re sharing five historical figures who changed transportation and reflecting on their legacy.

1) Rosa Parks

Did you know? When Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat in 1955, it wasn’t the first time she’d clashed with driver James Blake. Parks stepped onto his very crowded bus on a chilly day 12 years earlier, paid her fare at the front, then resisted the rule in place for Black people to disembark and re-enter through the back door. She stood her ground until Blake pulled her coat sleeve, enraged, to demand her cooperation. Parks left the bus rather than give in.

2) Claudette Colvin

Most people don't know there was a transportation advocate before Rosa Parks. At 15-years-old Claudette was the first Black woman to refuse to sit in the back of the bus. She was jailed nine months before Rosa Parks was arrested for the same civil disobedience, but not in the same way. Black civic leaders were already planning a boycott of the segregated Montgomery buses. They needed a face for their mass protest and threw their weight behind Parks instead of Claudette. Parks was a respectable adult and not a potentially uncontrollable teenager who had become pregnant by a married man.

3) Andrew Beard

Andrew Beard is remembered for designing many inventions that changed railroad transportation. He patented a design for a new rotary steam engine and improved the knuckle coupler used on trains. Beard’s coupler was the first automatic coupler widely used throughout the US, making railroad transportation and logistics significantly safer. In 1887, the US Congress passed legislation that made it illegal to operate railroad carts without it.

4) Fredrick McKinley Jones

Frederick McKinley Jones is best known for innovation in refrigeration. He designed a portable air-cooling unit for trucks, which significantly improved the long-haul transportation of perishable goods. Long-haul refrigerated transportation wouldn’t be possible today without his contribution. His invention earned him the National Medal of Technology and an induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

5) Elbert Robinson

A resident of Nashville, TN, Elbert Robinson received a patent for improvements in trolleys for electric railways. His invention focused primarily on the trolley wheels, implementing a new design to secure wheels to the wire when the trolley rounded curves or went downhills.

Final Thoughts

These five historical Black figures are just some of the inventors and innovators who shaped transportation. Here at City Go, we’re honored to recognize the incredible work they contributed and wish everyone a happy Black History Month. We encourage you to visit the Idaho Black History Museum this month.