- Boyd, HenryInvented the Boyd bedstead, a reinforced wooden bed frame design; founded a bedstead factory1802-1886
- Brooks, CharlesStreet sweeper truck design; paper punch1865-unknown
- Coffey, Cornelius RobinsonBecame the first African American certified aircraft mechanic in the United States in 1932 and designed a patented carburetor heating system that prevented icing, allowing aircraft to fly safely in cold and wet weather, a design principle still used in aviation today1903-1994
- Crosthwait, David Jr.Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system design1892-1976
- Davidson, ShelbyRewind device for adding machines; automatic fee-calculation device for postal clerks1868-1931
- Dickinson, Joseph H.Improvements to reed organ design; co-founded the Dickinson-Gould Organ Company1855-1936
- Downing, Philip BellStreet letter box (precursor to the modern mailbox); mechanical street railway switch1857-1934
- Ferrell, Frank J.Patented valves, a steam trap, and a snow-melting apparatus; labor union organizerunknown
- Forten, JamesInvented an unpatented sail-handling device that improved his sailmaking business1766-1842
- Harris, BettySpot test for explosives detection (TATB Spot Test)1940-
- Hawkins, Walter LincolnWeather-resistant plastic coating for telephone cables1911-1992
- Hilyer, Andrew FranklinPatented an improved hot-air register and companion water evaporator for hot-air heating systems in 1900, precursors to the modern home humidifier, while building a parallel career as one of Washington, D.C.'s most influential Black civic and business organizers1858-1925
- Matzeliger, Jan ErnstAutomatic shoe lasting machine1852-1889
- McCoy, ElijahAutomatic lubricator for steam engines1844-1929
- Miles, AlexanderAutomatically closing elevator doors1838-1918
- Morgan, GarrettSmoke hood (early gas mask); three-position traffic signal1877-1963
- Ned (surname not recorded)Invented an effective double cotton scraper in 1857 that allowed a single pass to plow and scrape both sides of a cotton row, a labor-saving mechanical improvement that became the central case establishing that enslaved inventors were legally barred from holding U.S. patentsdates unknown (active 1857)
- Parker, John P.Invented a tobacco screw press; founded an iron foundry1827-1900
- Parsons, James Albert Jr.Developed Durimet 20 (Alloy 20), a corrosion-resistant stainless steel alloy still used across the petrochemical, pharmaceutical, nuclear, and food-processing industries, and held eight patents in noncorrosive metals over a 30-year career as chief metallurgist at the Duriron Company1900-1989
- Patterson, Frederick DouglassEngineered and built the Patterson-Greenfield automobile in 1915, making his family's company, C.R. Patterson & Sons, the first and to date only African American-owned and operated automobile manufacturer in U.S. history1871-1932
- Pelham, RobertPasting apparatus for U.S. Census Bureau statistical processing1859-1943
- Powell, WilliamFounded the Standard Repair Shop, a mechanical and ironworking businessunknown
- Reynolds, Humphrey H.Railway passenger car ventilator that filtered out dust and cindersunknown
- Richardson, Albert C.Casket-lowering device for use at gravesitesunknown
- Rillieux, NorbertMultiple-effect evaporator for sugar refining1806-1894
- Robinson, Elbert R.Patented improvements to the electric railway trolley in 1893 and 1898 that helped secure trolley wheels to overhead power lines as streetcars rounded curves or traveled inclines, refining a critical piece of urban mass-transit infrastructure during the height of the electric streetcar eraunknown-unknown (active 1893-1898)
- Robinson, Robert NathanielWorked as a toolmaker and mechanical engineer across a remarkable 44-year career spanning Ford Motor Company's Detroit plant and, later, major Soviet industrial facilities including the Stalingrad Tractor Plant and Moscow's First State Ball Bearing Plant, where he submitted dozens of proposals to improve tool-production methods1906-1994
- Scott, Wendell Oliver Sr.Trained as a skilled auto mechanic under his own father before opening his own repair shop; built and personally maintained his own NASCAR race cars for two decades using a self-taught engineering ability that let him compete against well-funded teams employing professional mechanic crews1921-1990
- Scottron, SamuelAdjustable mirror design; extension window cornice; synthetic onyx manufacturing process1841-1908
- Stokes, RufusInvented the “Clean Air Machine,” a self-taught engineer's air-purification device that reduced gas and ash emissions from industrial furnace and power-plant smokestacks, patented in 1968 and improved in 19701922-1986
- Stringfield, Bessie (Betsy Beatrice White)Taught herself motorcycle mechanics entirely out of necessity after mechanics across the segregated South repeatedly refused to service her bike, becoming skilled enough to maintain her own motorcycles across eight solo cross-country trips and four years as a U.S. Army civilian dispatch rider; later opened her own motorcycle repair shop in Miami and taught mechanics classes to her community1911-1993
- Temple, LewisToggle harpoon head for whaling1800-1854
- Walker, Moses FleetwoodExploding artillery shell; motion picture reel loading and changing mechanisms1856-1924
- Welburn, Edward Thomas Jr.Became the first Black automotive designer hired by General Motors in 1972 and rose to Vice President of GM Global Design from 2005 to 2016, making him the highest-ranking Black executive in the history of the global automotive industry and overseeing the design of vehicles from the Chevrolet Corvette to the U.S. presidential limousine1950-present