Inventor

Birth: October 13, 1872 in Richmond, Indiana

Death: February 12, 1956, in Springfield, Ohio (buried in Richmond, Indiana)

Career: Herbert worked at the Church Furniture Co. in Richmond, Indiana, and was only one of three Black employees. He also worked as a Richmond letter carrier for 36 years and then engaged in landscape gardening after retirement.

Career as an Inventor: Herbert and his brother, Gloucester Garrett, invented a spring wheel for automobiles. The brothers presented their invention at a Richmond Citizen’s Union meeting. Herbert also highlighted that other revolutionary inventions, such as the sewing machine and cotton gin, had been invented by (or suggested by) Black people. Jesse Johnson was the first to invent a corn-husking machine close to Richmond in New Paris, Indiana.