Which African American inventor spent the first fifteen years of life as a slave and filed a patent for an improvement to the rotary engine in 1892?

• A. Andrew Jackson Beard
• B. Granville T. Woods
• C. Meredith Gourdine
• D. Dr. Harold S. Fleming

Answer: (A)

This item is about recognizing an African American inventor whose early life included slavery and who contributed to industrial technology with a patent in the 19th century. Andrew Jackson Beard fits this profile: he spent his first fifteen years enslaved, later learned skilled mechanical work, and in 1892 filed a patent for an improvement to the rotary engine, a design used to convert steam power into rotation in heavy machinery and locomotives of that era. This combination of a enslaved upbringing and a specific 1892 patent for a rotary-engine improvement makes him the correct figure. The other names don’t match both parts of the clue—enslaved early life and an 1892 patent for a rotary engine—so they aren’t the right fit, even though they are notable Black inventors in other fields or time periods.