May 10, 2018

Not a real picture of Isaac Johnson

For an African American, it was a challenge to patent an invention, especially in the late 1800s. However, Isaac R. Johnson succeeded in this challenge when he patent an improvement to the folding bicycle frame on October 10, 1899.

Isaac R. Johnson was born in New York sometime during 1812. While he was not the first person to invent the bicycle frame, he was the first African American to invent and patent the bicycle frame, especially a frame which could be folded or taken apart for easy storage.

In fact, Isaac Johnson’s version of the bicycle frame is similar to the version we ride today as the bicycles we use today have the same pattern, they just do not fold up. Johnson’s version was a frame which could be folded and stored in small places, it was often used while traveling and on vacation

Isaac R. Johnson originally filed for the patent in April of 1899 and it was given the publication number: US634823 A. The only information we really have about Isaac R. Johnson is from the information he filled out when he filed his patent.

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Marshall Walter "Major" Taylor (November 26, 1878 – June 21, 1932) was an American track cyclist who began his amateur career while he was still a teenager in Indianapolis, Indiana. He became a professional racer in 1896, at the age of 18, and won the sprint event at the 1899 world track championships in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to become the first African American to achieve the level of world champion and the second black athlete to win a world championship in any sport. Taylor also set numerous world records in the sprint discipline in race distances ranging from the quarter-mile (0.4 km) to the two-mile (3.2 km). Taylor was an American sprint champion in 1899 and 1900, and completed races in the U.S., Europe and Australasia. He retired in 1910, at the age of 32, to his home in Worcester, Massachusetts.

In 1928, Taylor self-published his autobiography, The Fastest Bicycle Rider in the World, but severe financial difficulties forced him into poverty. He spent the final two years of his life in Chicago, Illinois, where he died in 1932. Throughout his athletic career Taylor challenged the racial prejudice he encountered on and off the velodrome and became a pioneering role model for other athletes facing racial discrimination. Taylor was inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame in 1989. Other tributes include memorials and historic markers in Indianapolis, Worcester, and at his gravesite in Chicago. Several cycling clubs, trails, and events in the U.S. have been named in his honor, as well as the Major Taylor Velodrome in Indianapolis and Major Taylor Boulevard in Worcester. Taylor has also been memorialized in a television mini-series and a song.

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Decades before AIDS Rides, Critical Mass, Tweed Rides and more, five women embarked on a group ride from New York City to Washington, D.C. during Easter weekend in 1928. Yes, 1928! These five New Yorkers — Marylou Jackson, Velma Jackson, Ethyl Miller, Leolya Nelson and Constance White — biked 250 miles over three days.On the first day of their ride, they biked 110 miles to Philadelphia. The second day, they biked 40 miles to Wilmington, Delaware. The third and final day, they biked more than 100 miles, arriving in Washington, D.C. around 9pm. Once in D.C., they did some sightseeing around the National Mall and Howard University. They also took time to have the above photograph taken. I love how they sit so confidently on their bicycles, resplendent in their leather jackets, caps, bloomers and stylish socks.

When asked what motivated them to embark on the group ride, they responded that they were motivated by “the love of the great-out-of-doors” that each of them cherished. Interestingly, they also challenged other young women, 21 years old and older, to replicate their trip in less time. What are we to make of this challenge, the professed love for “outdoor” culture and the trip, in general? And what was happening in 1928 that provides a context for the ride?

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Book one and it's companion books (coloring book, journal and activity book) of the The Just Imagine...What If There Were No Black People in the World? children's book series about African American inventors and scientists will provide you with tools for a more informative and entertaining Black History celebration.

You will be introduced to some of the other hidden figures in American history. The companion books were designed to keep children engaged with the information they learn in the book and, also possibly as a tool educators can use to incorporate Black History into their Black History and American History curriculum.

Read more about these wonderful books. You can learn more online at www.tamarashiloh.com or visit the Multicultural Children's Bookstore at The Shops in Hilltop in Richmond.

Visit www.tamarashiloh.com to order your books or visit The Multicultural Children's Bookstore.