Kenosha News from Kenosha, Wisconsin • 9

i TUESDAY FEBRUARY 25 1997 KENOSHA NEWS B1 Slndy Howell-DIaz Is thinking about some of the many things invented by black Americans it off that? Pollack scoffs at We sequel HOLLYWOOD Esteemed film-iiiaker Sjdney Pollack scoffs at the recent report of a sequel to his Robert Redford-Barbra Streisand classic Way We heading toward production have to do it from wheelchairs getting too he says But seriously tried to make a sequel work done two scripts myself Ray Stark had two scripts But we find anything that sound like it was being done just to capitalize on the first Pollack extols his late pal Burt Lancaster on the American Movie Classics tribute to the star today calling Lancaster the most ego-free actor ever known as well as the man who motivated him to become a director But the filmmaker whose credits include such brilliant pieces SS Shoot Horses of and has no film directing assignments on his agenda know the matter with he says "JVlaybe that getting old and crotchety I find anything I 1 On the other hand Pollack has a full slate of projects producing including Gwyneth which will get under way in five weeks in London Oh heavens An April start date has been set for the Meg Ryan-Nicolas Cage of a freewheeling update of Wim of about a guardian angel who falls in love with the woman assigned to watch over (We never saw Cage as the angel type but hey why they call it acting and getting $12 million for this one) Right now casting is under way for numerous subordinate roles with characters of all ethnicities The producers are looking to accurately reflect the multicultural population ofLA I Hello goodbye i creator Diane English is returning to the long-running Candice Bergen semes next season as a consultant So where does that leave Ted Dan-fcon and Mary Steenburgen who consider English the savior of their sitcom? consulting on storylines for Murphy and all so still have her pretty much full Danson says sounded pretty scary to us at first but going to be Man on the move With his big-screen Tyra Banks-Malik Yoba romantic comedy complete 30-year-old play-wrightfilmmaker David Talbert is planning a summer production start for That film too will likely star Banks the gorgeous model-tumed-actress and I are good friends I was faxing her 10 pages a tthy of the new script over the Christmas holidays to get her feel for the character and Talbert says Talbert has already established himself as a prolific writerdirector in the legitimate theater His fifth theatrical work the gospel musical Fool and His is booked on national tour through December Now heavy into making his entry into the movie world Still one ingredient is missing in booming life was inspired by Own experience my wedding was called off We looked at one another and said is not the thing to But the film has a happy ending The character finds the love of his life hoping maybe life will imitate Black inventors often overlooked by historians BV ALICE ANNE CONNER KENOSHA NEWS Norbert Rilieux was a self-taught mechanic who invented a sugar refining method that used steam His invention helped make the United States the world leader in the sugar industry Lloyd Hall was a pharmaceutical chemist who invented a method of using curing JtSlSCK salts for processing pre- 1 served meats and revolu- tionized the meat packing PufiTiflii industry in the United States While salt had been used for centuries to preserve meat his method gave superior results CJ Walker was a single mother who invented a straightening comb and was the first person to combine various oils that conditioned and softened black men and hair These three inventors have more in common than a clever and resourceful mind: they are all black Americans whose inventions were overlooked by most historians Major contributions by black inventors are still not widely recognized in this country In fact a recent quiz given to both white and black high school students in Brooklyn found that neither could come up with the names of more than a couple of black inventors How many do you know? Following are 100 inventions by black Americans their names and the date of the invention The list was originally compiled by Ebony Magazine: Electric lamp Joseph Nichols and Lewis Latimer 1881 Relay instrument Granville Woods 1887 Switching device for railways William Burr 1899 Potato digger Wood 1895 Cap for bottles and jars A Lon-gand and A A Jones 1898 Churn Albert Richardson 1891 Guard attachments for beds Lewis A Russell 1895 Rotary engine Andrew Beard 1892 Breathing device Garrett A Morgan 1914 Improvements in fire escape lad ating car brakes John Smith 1872 Kneading machine Joseph Lee 1894 Shoe lasting machine Jan Matzeliger 1884 Fountain pen William Purvis 1890 Tunnel construction for electric railways Granville Woods 1888 Traffic signal Garret A Morgan 1923 Guitar Robert Flemmings Jr 1886 Letter Box Philip Downing 1891 Comb Walter Sammons 1920 Electric railway trolley Elbert Robinson 1893 Improvements in biscuit cutters Alexander Ashbourne 1875 Egg beater Willis Johnson 1884 Ironing board Sarah Boone 1892 Printing press WA Lavalette 1878 Elevator safety device James Cooper 1895 Street sweeper Charles Brooks 1890 Parcel carrier for bicycles Jerry Certain 1899 Telephone system and apparatus Granville Woods 1887 Lawnmower John Albert Burr 1899 Automatic gear shift Richard Spikes 1932 Dust pan Lloyd Ray 1897 Lemon squeezer John White 1896 Safety gate for bridges Humphrey Reynolds 1890 Method and apparatus for setting thermostats David Crosthwait Jr 1928 Bicycle frame Isaac Johnson 1899 Horseshoe Oscar Brown 1892 carriage William Richardson 1889 Self-setting animal trap William Campbell 1881 Corn silker Robert Scott 1894 Riding saddle William Davis no date available Bridle bit Lincoln Brown 1892 Overboot for horses Robert Coats 1892 ders Joseph Winters 1878 Swinging chair Payton Johnson 1881 Canopy frame Carter Williams 1892 Steam table George Kelley 1897 Eye protector glasses Powell Johnson 1880 Elevator Alexander Miles 1867 Pencil sharpener John Love 1897 Car coupling device Andrew Beard 1899 Amusement apparatus Granville Woods 1899 Improvement in smoke stacks for locomotives Landrow Bell 1871 Lantern or lamp Michael Harney 1884 Player piano Joseph Dickinson 1912 Improvement in wagons John West 1870 Portabale weighing scale John Hunter 1896 The water closet Jerome Rhodes 1899 Hand stamp William Purvis 1883 Refrigerator John Stanard 1891 Automatic cut-off switch Granville Woods 1889 Photographic print wash Clato-nia Joaquin Dorticus 1895 Overshoe Alvin Rickman 1898 Postmarking and canceling machine William Barry 1897 Improvement in furniture casters David A Fisher Jr 1876 Mop Thomas Stewart 1893 Type writing machine Lee Bur-ridge and Newman Mashman 1885 Receptacle for storing and preserving papers Henry Brown 1886 Arm for recording machine Joseph Hunter Dickinson 1918 Train alarm Richard A Butler 1897 Ice cream mold and disher Alfred Cralle 1897 Clothes dryer GeorgeT Sampson 1892 Process of producing paints and stains George Washington Carver 1927 Improvement in means for oper Golf tee George Grant 1899 Air conditioning unit Frederick Jones 1949 Spring gun Edward Lewis 1897 Automatic fishing device George 'Cook 1899 Lawn sprinkler Joseph Smith 1897 Railway telegraphy Granville Woods 1888 Apparatus for transmission of messages by electricity Granville Woods 1885 Mail bag transferring device JC Jones 1917 Fire extinguisher Thomas Mar-tain 1872 Luggage carrier John Butts 1899 Folding bed LC Bailey 1899 Curtain rod support WS Grant 1896 Convertible settee and bed JII Evans 1897 Window cleaner AL Lewis 1892 Corn harvester HL Jones 1890 Air ship JF Pickering 1900 Cotton chopper George Murray 1894 Oil cup Elijah McCoy 1898 Improvements in steamcylin-der lubrications Elijah McCoy 1876 Magnetic computer tape reel Larry Preston 1971' Foot power hammer Minnis Headen 1886 Antenna feed for two coordinating tracking radars James Lewis 1868 Supercharger system for internal combustion engine Joseph A Gamell 1976 Automatic stop-plug for gas and oil pipes William Cosgrove 1885 Airplane mail loading and un-loadin device Gus Burton 1945 Hoisting and loading mechanism Mary Jane Reynolds 1899 Gamma electric cell Henry Sampson 1971 Improvements in refrigerating apparatus Thomas Elkins 1879 Signaling system Lewis Chubb 1937 The Lockhorns generations which Buneigh pqt on paper were all-time favorites such as: Knows the Trouble I've Hear Nobody and You A composer in his own right Burleigh had 250 original songs to his credit Most were semi-classical ballads One of them "Little Mother of was made famous by Enrico Caruso As a performer Burleigh appeared on the concert stage in the United States and in Europe and -arranger composer and baritone soloist who helped preserve a rich musical legacy for the world the Negro spiritual Fearing that the spiritual might die out Burleigh who was a skilled musicologist wrote arrangements for i Composer preserved Negro spirituals note: During Black History Month we will be running biographies of black Americans ho might not be well known to the public but ho ha made important contributions to society The biographies come from Delores Johnson who uses them in her Sunday school classes at Second Baptist Church 3925 32iul Air Harry Burleigh was a noted Harry Gwendolyn Burleigh Brooks than 100 of them Among the songs passed down orally through See COMPOSER Puye H2.