Matilda Jennings was a dressmaker and wife of James A. Thompson, a Mason. With the success of his business and patent, he became a leader in the abolitionist and civil rights movement in New York City. Thomas Jennings (1791–Feb. However, in 1857, an enslaver named Oscar Stuart patented a "double cotton scraper" that was invented by one of the enslaved people forced to work for him. Historical records only show the real inventor's name as being Ned. When Jennings died, Frederick Douglass wrote about his death. Jennings was born free in New York City, New York in 1791. But by then, Jennings' process of using solvents to clean clothes was well-known and widely heralded. In 1831, he was selected as assistant secretary to the First Annual Convention of the People of Color in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which met in June of that year. For more details, see our Privacy Policy. After that, most of his income went to his abolitionist activities. 12, 1856), a free-born African American and New Yorker who became a leader of the abolitionist movement, made his fortune as the inventor of a dry-cleaning process called “dry scouring.” Jennings was 30 years old when he received his patent on March 3, 1821 (U.S. patent 3306x), becoming the first African American inventor to own the rights to his invention. March 1827 d. June 5, 1901), and James E. Jennings (b. A decade after Elizabeth Jennings won her case, New York City streetcar companies stopped practicing segregation. She was defended by the young Chester Arthur, and won her case the next year. 1832). February 11, 1859, Leadership Intern Program (High School & College Students), Apply for the Collegiate Inventors Competition. Inspired by frequent requests for cleaning advice, he began researching cleaning solutions. Thomas L. Jennings (1791 – February 12, 1856) was an African-American tradesman and abolitionist in New York City, New York. With the proceeds of his invention he bought his wife and children’s freedom, then continued his civil rights work. Jennings filed for a patent in 1820 and was granted a patent for the "dry-scouring" (dry cleaning) process he had invented just a year later. 1824, d. 1886), Elizabeth Jennings (b. Thomas Jennings was the first African American to receive a patent, on March 3, 1821. Invented a dry-cleaning process in response to his customers’ need. Jennings' daughter, Elizabeth, an activist like her father, was the plaintiff in a landmark lawsuit after being thrown off a New York City streetcar while on the way to church. US Patent No. He operated and owned a tailoring business. [1], Jennings was a leader in the cause of abolitionism and African-American civil rights. 3306x, Born Mary Bellis covered inventions and inventors for ThoughtCo for 18 years. Under the United States patent laws of 1793 and 1836, both enslaved and free citizens could patent their inventions. Jennings and his daughter had a hand in the effort to desegregate public facilities, a movement that lasted well into the Civil Rights Era a century later. The same year, Jennings was one of the founders of the Legal Rights Association, a group that organized challenges to discrimination and segregation and gained legal representation to take cases to court. Biggest Accomplishments – Why Thomas L Jennings’ Contribution Matters. Jennings died just a few years later in 1859, which was itself just a few years before the practice he so reviled—enslavement—was abolished. First black to receive a patent (U.S. patent 3306x). In 1821 he was one of the first African Americans to be granted a patent for his method of dry cleaning. Jennings, a skilled tailor and successful businessman in New York City, was disappointed in conventional methods of cleaning, so he experimented until he found a successful method that did not harm clothes. Used his good fortune to make life better for those around him. The first money Thomas Jennings earned from his patent was spent on the legal fees necessary to liberate his family out of slavery and support the abolitionist cause. Jennings built a business as a tailor, and was well-respected in the community. [2] Under New York's gradual abolition law of 1799, she was converted to the status of an indentured servant and was not eligible for full emancipation until 1827. Jennings began experimenting with different solutions and cleaning agents. Stuart's reasoning for his action was that "the master is the owner of the fruits of the labor of the slave both manual and intellectual.". Under the Patent Act of 1793, an individual had to sign an oath declaring that he was a citizen of the United States. He was active on issues related to emigration to other countries; opposing colonization in Africa, as proposed by the American Colonization Society; and supporting expansion of suffrage for African-American men. Jennings filed for a patent in 1820 and was granted a patent for the "dry-scouring" (dry cleaning) process he had invented just a year later. He founded and was a trustee of the Abyssinian Baptist Church, a leader in the African-American community. The court ruled in favor of Stuart, noting that enslaved people were not citizens and could not be granted patents. He operated and owned a tailoring business. Tragically, the original patent was lost in a fire. After his daughter, Elizabeth Jennings, was forcibly removed from a "whites only" streetcar in New York City, he organized a movement against racial segregation in public transit in the city; the services were provided by private companies. Thomas Jennings invented a process he called "dry-scouring," receiving a patent in 1821 and becoming the first African American to be granted a patent. With two other prominent African-American leaders, Jennings organized the Legal Rights Association in 1855 in New York, which raised challenges to discrimination and organized legal defense for court cases. He started his career as a tailor and eventually opened one of New York’s leading clothing shops. James W.C. Pennington, her father created the Legal Rights Association in 1855, a pioneering minority-rights organization. Thomas L. Jennings (1791 – February 12, 1856) was an African-American tradesman and abolitionist in New York City, New York. He was a founder and trustee of the Abyssinian Baptist Church, assistant secretary for the First Annual Convention of the People of Color in Philadelphia in 1831, and helped organize the Legal Rights Association in 1855, raising challenges to discrimination, and funding and organizing legal defenses for court cases. In 1820, he applied for a patent. He noted the importance of the patent Jennings received and that the patent recognized him as a "citizen of the United States," a designation at the time that shocked many. In 1831, Jennings became assistant secretary for the First Annual Convention of the People of Color in Philadelphia. [6], https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thomas_L._Jennings&oldid=973248010, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 16 August 2020, at 05:10. Tragically, the original patent was lost in a fire. But surprisingly, in 1861, the Confederate States of America passed a law granting patent rights to enslaved people In 1870, the U.S. government passed a patent law giving all American men including Black Americans the rights to their inventions. And the "dry-scouring" process Jennings invented is essentially the same method used by dry cleaning businesses worldwide to this day. He built a business and married a woman named Elizabeth, who was born in 1798 in Delaware into slavery and died March 5, 1873. January 1, 1791 Elizabeth Jennings won her case in 1855. Their daughter Elizabeth Jennings was born free on July 11, 1827 and became a schoolteacher and church organist. He spent his early earnings on legal fees to purchase his wife and some of their children out of slavery. With support from her father, Elizabeth sued the Third Avenue Railroad Company for discrimination and won her case in 1855. However, because of the material used to make the garments, conventional methods at the time were ineffective in cleaning them. Jennings, being a freeman, was a citizen and so was awarded the patent. He called his method “dry-scouring,” a process now known as dry cleaning. His patent was for a dry-cleaning process called “dry scouring”. Thomas L. Jennings (1791–1856) was the first African-American to be granted a patent, March 03, 1821 (U.S. patent 3306x). With the proceeds of his invention he bought his wife and children’s freedom, then continued his civil rights work. Indeed, civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, D.C., echoed many of the convictions that Jennings and his daughter had expressed and fought for 100 years before. After the incident, Jennings organized a movement against racial segregation in public transit in the city; the services were provided by private companies. He tested them on various fabrics until he found the right combination to treat and clean them. He helped arrange legal defense for his daughter, Elizabeth Jennings, in 1854 when she challenged a private streetcar company's segregation of seating and was arrested. He and his wife had three children: Matilda Jennings (b. In 1858, the U.S. patent office changed its patent regulations in response to a Supreme Court case related to Stuart's patent called Oscar Stuart v. Ned. 10 Important Black Inventors in U.S. History, Famous Black Inventors of the 19th- and Early 20th-Centuries, Common Myths About Famous Black Inventors, Biography of Garrett Morgan, Inventor of the Gas Mask, Biography of Nathaniel Alexander, Inventor of a Folding Chair, African American History Timeline: 1850 to 1859, African American History Timeline: 1700 - 1799, Notable African American Patent Holders With Surnames of O, P, Q, R, Biography of Eli Whitney, Inventor of the Cotton Gin, Biography of Nikola Tesla, Serbian-American Inventor, Biography of John Lee Love, Portable Pencil Sharpener Inventor. Biography of Thomas Jennings, First African American Patent Holder. Luckily for Jennings, he filed his patent at the right time. His dry scouring process was a predecessor to today's dry cleaning methods. Essentially, he improved dry cleaning with a method called “scouring.” Jennings received his patent in 1821, and made history in the process. It freed slave children born after July 4, 1799, but only after they had served “apprenticeships” of twenty-eight years for men and twenty-five for women (far longer than traditional apprenticeships, designed to teach a young person a craft), thus compensating owners for the future loss of their property.[3][4]. [5] Its members organized additional challenges to discrimination and segregation, and gained legal representation to take cases to court. - Died [5], Jennings also supported the abolitionist movement and became active in working for civil rights of free African-Americans. But by then, Jennings' process of using solvents to clean clothes was well-known and widely heralded.