How did Elijah McCoys accomplishments change the world?
Elijah J. McCoy (May 2, 1844 – October 10, 1929) was a Canadian-American inventor and engineer, who was notable for his 57 U.S. patents, most to do with lubrication of steam engines. Born free in Canada, he returned as a five-year-old child with his family to the United States in 1847, where he lived for the rest of his life and became a US citizen
The popular expression, “The real McCoy”, was first published in Canada in 1881, but the expression, “The Real McKay”, can be traced to Scottish advertising in 1856. In James S. Bond’s The Rise and Fall of the “Union Club”: or, Boy Life in Canada, a character says, “By jingo! yes; so it will be. It’s the ‘real McCoy,’ as Jim Hicks says. Nobody but a devil can find us there.”
This expression, typically used to mean the real thing, has been associated with Elijah McCoy’s oil-drip cup invention. One theory is that railroad engineers looking to avoid inferior copies would request it by name, and inquire if a locomotive was fitted with “the real McCoy system”. This theory is mentioned in Elijah McCoy’s biography at the National Inventors Hall of Fame. It can be traced to the December 1966 issue of Ebony in an advertisement for Old Taylor: “But the most famous legacy McCoy left his country was his name.” A 1985 pamphlet printed by the Empak Publishing Company also notes the phrase’s origin but does not elaborate.[10] Other possibilities for its origin have been proposed.
974, the state of Michigan put an historical marker (P25170) at the McCoys’ former home at 5720 Lincoln Avenue and at his gravesite.
1975, Detroit celebrated Elijah McCoy Day by placing a historic marker at the site of his home. The city also named a nearby street for him.
1994, Michigan installed a historical marker (S0642) at his first workshop in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
2001, McCoy was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio.
2011, Senator Debbie Stabenow offered an amendment to the Patent Reform Act of 2011 to name the first satellite office of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, which opened in Detroit, Michigan, on July 13, 2012, as the “Elijah J. McCoy United States Patent and Trademark Office”
References
“Elijah McCoy Picture”. Argot Language Center.
Jump up ^ Sources give his birthdate as May 2, 1843; May 2, 1844; or less commonly March 27, 1843.
^ Jump up to: a b c “The not-so-real McCoy”. Brinkster. Retrieved February 3, 2011. disputes “Real McCoy” story
Jump up ^ Bond, James S. The rise and fall of the “Union club”: or, Boy life in Canada. Yorkville, Ontario. p. 1
Jump up ^ “Elijah McCoy, Inventor of the Week”. Lemelson-MIT Program. May 1996. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
Jump up ^ Quinion, Michael. “The Real McCoy”. World Wide Words.
^ Jump up to: a b Casselman, William Gordon (2006). “The Real McCoy”. Bill Casselman’s Canadian Word of the Day. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
^ Jump up to: a b “Elijah McCoy, inventor profile”. National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Jump up ^ Ebony, December 1966. p. 157.
Jump up ^ Bennetta, William J. “Did Somebody Say McTrash?”. The Textbook League.
Jump up ^ Baulch, Vivian M. (1995-11-26). “How Detroit got its first black hospital”. The Detroit News.[dead link]
Jump up ^ “Elijah McCoy”. Find a Grave.
Jump up ^ Ebony, December 1966. p. 157
Jump up ^ Blackman, Malorie, Noughts & Crosses, New York: Random House, 2001.
^ Jump up to: a b “Elijah McCoy”. MichMarkers.com – The Michigan Historical Marker Web Site.
Jump up ^ “Detroit Memorial Park Cemetery”. MichMarkers.com – The Michigan Historical Marker Web Site.
Jump up ^ “Elijah McCoy Home Informational Site”. Detroit – The History and Future of the Motor City. University of Michigan.
Jump up ^ “Patent Reform Act of 2011 Amendment” (pdf). Congressional Record 112th Congress (2011-2012). Retrieved March 5, 2011.
Jump up ^ “USPTO to Open First Ever Satellite Office in Detroit” (pdf) (Press release). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. December 16, 2010. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
Jump up ^ Anders, Melissa (July 13, 2012). “Detroit beats Silicon Valley in opening first-ever patent office outside Washington, D.C.”. MLive.com. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
Jump up ^ Markowitz, Eric (March 1, 2012). “What Does a Patent Office Mean For Detroit?”. Inc.com. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
Jump up ^ Associated Press (July 11, 2012). “Patent office prepares to open Detroit location”. The Detroit News (Detroit, Michigan). Retrieved July 11, 2012.
