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14 flagships · 25 briefs · 8 dossiers · 1,441 entities — record updated October 4, 2026

Elijah McCoy

CTL-E-1039 · Institution · other · 1844-1929 (railroad work c. 1860s-1870s)

PROVISIONAL evidence grade of this record

Trained mechanical engineer who, denied engineering work because of racism, worked as a locomotive fireman and oiler on the Michigan Central Railroad, then invented the automatic steam-engine lubricator (1872).

Notes

Merged into canonical KG 2026-10-03 from TECH-001; source entity IDs: CTL-DR-TECH-001:TECH-E-026; source research type(s): None.

Sources

Record CTL-E-1039 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: PROVISIONAL · 2 sources · CTL research: TECH-001.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

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Cite as: CultureTechLens, “Elijah McCoy (CTL-E-1039),” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, October 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1039/

Chicago: CultureTechLens. “Elijah McCoy (CTL-E-1039).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. Chicago, IL: CultureTechLens, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1039/
APA: CultureTechLens. (2026). Elijah McCoy (CTL-E-1039) [Entity record]. CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1039/
MLA: CultureTechLens. “Elijah McCoy (CTL-E-1039).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, 2026, https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1039/

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From the Archive

The archive in pictures

The people, places, and institutions this work documents. Photographs from the CultureTechLens research record — rights-cleared, credited, and cited like everything else here.

Apartment houses and funeral parlor in Negro section of Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, 1941
Apartment houses and funeral parlor in Negro section of Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, 1941Photo: Lee, Russell, 1903-1986, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress
Crowd outside of fashionable Negro church after Easter Sunday service, Black Belt, Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, 1941
Crowd outside of fashionable Negro church after Easter Sunday service, Black Belt, Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, 1941Photo: Rosskam, Edwin, 1903-1985, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress
Negro grocery store, Black Belt, Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, 1941
Negro grocery store, Black Belt, Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, 1941Photo: Rosskam, Edwin, 1903-1985, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress

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