Tech, Software & Devices
STRONG EVIDENCE evidence grade — master store (canonical CSV)
Combined Graph record U-00026 · provenance: canonical master store (CSV), record CTL-T-19. Master record source: CTL seed 2026-10-16 — UNVERIFIED, verify before public citation.
The Smithsonian Lemelson Center documents African American inventors across food, transportation, medicine, and communications — e.g., Mark E. Dean holds three of the nine patents for the original IBM personal computer, and Valerie L. Thomas (NASA) received U.S. Patent 4,229,761 for the 'illusion transmitter' (1980) — the technology/invention core of this lane's scope. The lane framing is CTL's own taxonomy. (fetched in full 2026-10-17)
Answer summary · this record in brief, from its own record text
The Smithsonian Lemelson Center documents African American inventors across food, transportation, medicine, and communications — e.g., Mark E. Dean holds three of the nine patents for the original IBM personal computer, and Valerie L. Thomas (NASA) received U.S. Patent 4,229,761 for the 'illusion transmitter' (1980) — the technology/invention core of this lane's scope. The lane framing is CTL's own taxonomy. (fetched in full 2026-10-17)
The record
- Also known as: tech-software
Referenced by
- Black Tech Pipeline — covers → this record
- Blacks in Technology — covers → this record
Sources
- https://invention.si.edu/invention-stories/lost-histories-african-american-inventors (verification source · master store)
Evidence note (master store)
The Smithsonian Lemelson Center documents African American inventors across food, transportation, medicine, and communications — e.g., Mark E. Dean holds three of the nine patents for the original IBM personal computer, and Valerie L. Thomas (NASA) received U.S. Patent 4,229,761 for the 'illusion transmitter' (1980) — the technology/invention core of this lane's scope. The lane framing is CTL's own taxonomy. (fetched in full 2026-10-17)
More topic records
- Black inventors
- Black Media & Press
- Black physicists
- Black vote
- Black women in mathematics
- Black-owned construction firms
Browse the full directory: all entity records
Record CTL-T-19 · Combined Graph record U-00026 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 1 source · 2 mapped relationships.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph
Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.
Cite this record
Chicago: CultureTechLens. “Tech, Software & Devices (CTL-T-19).” CultureTechLens Combined Graph. Chicago, IL: CultureTechLens, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-t-19/
APA: CultureTechLens. (2026). Tech, Software & Devices (CTL-T-19) [Entity record]. CultureTechLens Combined Graph. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-t-19/
MLA: CultureTechLens. “Tech, Software & Devices (CTL-T-19).” CultureTechLens Combined Graph, 2026, https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-t-19/
Citation guidance for teachers, journalists, and funders: How to Cite Us.
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.



Trust & evidence
Evidence before authority. CultureTechLens publishes its methods, its limits, and its corrections alongside its findings. Claims carry grades — VERIFIED, SUPPORTED, PROVISIONAL, DISPUTED, UNRESOLVED — and unknowns are never reported as zero.
Every claim graded. Every source named. Every correction public — see the corrections log.