Name: The Colored Inventor: A Record of 50 Years
Author: Henry E. Baker

BOOKS

Through "COLORED" Eyes:
The Story of Henry E. Baker, The Man From Mississippi Who Created A List That Changed The World
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Paperback eBook

This series isn’t about Black inventors—it’s about hidden networks, relationships, influence, and intersections between Black inventors and iconic historical figures such as Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Hiram S. Maxim, W.E.B. Du Bois, and others who shaped modern history. The series shows how Black innovators influenced the same world as history’s most celebrated figures.

The book Through "COLORED" Eyes: The Story of Henry E. Baker, The Man From Mississippi Who Created A List That Changed The World shares the inspiring story of Henry E. Baker, a U.S. assistant patent examiner who chronicled the original list of Black inventors. It reveals the overlooked relationships between Black inventors and their historical peers and provides a list of 400+ inventions from Henry E. Baker’s journey. The book uses beautiful illustrations and patent drawings to show how inventions work—helping educators, homeschoolers, and parents teach innovation as a connected human story that builds identity, confidence, and creative possibility.

Enjoy the stories. Review the list. See yourself in what you read.

Get the List of Over 400 African American Inventions

Paperback eBook

For readers interested in a quick-reference publication of "just the list" of African American inventors, the companion book, Baker's List of "COLORED" Inventors meets that request.

BAKER'S LIST of "Colored" Inventors highlights and puts within your grasp more than 400 African American inventions. This book presents a rare and invaluable list of African American inventions that shaped industries, revolutionized everyday life, and established a foundation for subsequent generations of thinkers and creators—curated from the historical records of Henry E. Baker, Assistant Patent Examiner at the U.S. Patent Office. Through meticulous research, Baker uncovered and validated these pioneering works, overcoming historical barriers to ensure that these inventors received rightful recognition.

The book includes "The Basics About Patents," a practical chapter outlining the patent process—offering guidance for aspiring inventors who wish to bring their ideas to life today.

Perfect for educators, homeschoolers, students, parents, entrepreneurs, historians, and anyone passionate about untold stories, BAKER’S LIST of “Colored” Inventors ensures these extraordinary legacies are celebrated, preserved, and passed down.

HENRY E. BAKER

Why we know what we know about Early African American Inventors

"It is not so apparent, however, to the general public that along the line of inventions also the colored race has made surprising and substantial progress; and that it has followed, even if "after off," the footsteps of the more favored race. And it is highly important, therefore, that we should make note of what the race has achieved along this line to the end that proper credit may be accorded as having made some contribution to our national progress" (Baker, 1913, p. 1-2).

Our inspiration for this project stems from a unique and rare collection of African American inventors and their inventions, as chronicled by Henry E. Baker in the early 1900s.

"The Colored Inventor: A Record of 50 Years"

Henry E. Baker's Book (published reprints)

Henry E. Baker's The Colored Inventor: A Record of 50 Years, published in 1913, provides the historical context and details of his important work to ensure history would bear proper record of the accomplishments of African American inventors and their inventions. Below are publications of his book from respective publishers. Enjoy.

Book - The Colored Inventor: A Record of 50 Years