• Baker started working in the United States Patent Office in 1877 as a copyist. By 1902 he was the Second Assistant Examiner. He is credited as the first chronicler of African-American inventors.

• Baker’s efforts uncovered over 1,200 African American inventors, 800 of which gave permission for him to reveal their identities. He would go on to write books and articles on the history of African-American inventors.

Henry E. Baker

C.R. Patterson

• Patterson’s company is considered the world’s first and only African-American owned and founded automobile company.

• Patterson offered 28 types of horse-drawn vehicles and employed over a dozen workers.

• Wiggins raced in the Colored Speedway Association (CSA) where he won the 100 mile race, the Gold and Glory Sweepstakes, 4 times between 1926 and 1935.

• Until his death in 1979 Wiggins fought for African-American participation in motor racing.

Charlie Wiggins

• Spikes is the holder of a number of United States patents including:

• Automatic car washer

• Automobile directional signals

• Continuous contact trolley pole

• Brake Testing Machine

• Modifications to the automatic gear shift

• Automatic safety brake

• The automatic safety brake (1962) was Spikes’ last invention before his death in 1963.

Richard Spikes

• Morgan filed a patent for a traffic control device with a “warning” position in 1922. The patent was granted in 1923. He later sold the rights to General Electric for $40,000.

• Morgan also is credited with inventing the smoke hood, eventually becoming the gas mask.

Garrett Morgan

• Gilles served as President and CEO of Chrysler’s SRT brand and Senior VP of Design and was promoted to Head of Design for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2015.

• He styled the 2005 Chrysler 300 (North American Car of the Year) and also led the design team that created the 2014 SRT Viper.

Ralph Gilles

• Patented more than 60 inventions.

• Jones is most famous for inventing an automatic refrigeration system for long haul trucks and railroad cars.

• Also invented a self–starting gas engine.

• Jones was posthumously awarded the National Medal of Technology in 1991 – the first Black inventor to ever receive such an honor.

Frederick McKinley Jones

• Appointed as United States Secretary of Transportation by President Gerald Ford on March 7, 1975.

• 2nd African American to be appointed to a cabinet.

• Served as legal counsel for Cincinnati and Philadelphia as they acquired their private transit systems.

• Secretary Coleman was involved in all aspects of DOT's activities.

William Thaddeus Coleman, Jr.

• First African American to qualify and compete in the Indianapolis 500.

• First African American to drive a Formula One car.

• Drove in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) GT Championship series and won four races

• Subject of new Netflix documentary chronicling race and inclusion struggles in the racing world

Willy T. Ribbs

• Vice President of Dealer Sales

• Joined Bridgestone in 2015 from PepsiCo where he was the Senior Market Director of Sales and Operations

• Also held positions as Regional Sales Director, Regional Sales Manager, and Senior Auditor

• Founding Executive Member of BBOLD, Bridgestone’s first African-American ERG

Bryant Davis

• Executive Director, Talent Management, Diversity and Inclusion

• Joined Bridgestone in 2016 as HRBP for OTR, Ag, and TBR&R

• Previously worked at General Mills, Microsoft, and the University of Illinois

• Founding Executive Member of BBOLD, Bridgestone’s first African-American ERG

Ebonee Davis Ifeobu

James Baldwin

• Essayist, playwright, novelist, and voice of American Civil Rights movement

• Most notable works include Notes of a Native Son, The Fire Next Time, and Go Tell It on the Mountain.

• His Novel, If Beale Street Could Talk was adapted into an Academy Award winning film in 2018.

Langston Hughes

• Central figure during the Harlem Renaissance as a major poet but also wrote novels, short stories, essays, and plays.

• Sought to honestly portray the joys and hardships of working-class black lives, avoiding both sentimental idealization and negative stereotypes.

• Hughes was the first black American to earn his living solely from his writing and his public lectures.

Gwendolyn Brooks

• First Black author to win a Pulitzer Prize for her poem Annie Allen

• Poetry consultant to the Library of Congress, the first Black woman to hold that position

• Poet laureate for the state of Illinois

Nikki Giovanni

• Poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator

• Awarded 7 NAACP Image Awards

• Authored 3 New York Times and Los Angeles Times Best Sellers

• One of the foremost authors during the Black Arts Movement

• Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech

Maya Angelou

• Poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights activist

• Author of 7 autobiographies, the most famous being I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

• Awarded over 50 honorary degrees

• Recited her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” (1993) at the first inauguration of Bill Clinton

Toni Morrison

• Novelist, essayist, book editor, and college professor

• Won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Song of Solomon (1977)

• Won the Pulitzer Prize for Beloved (1987)

• Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993

Paul Laurence Dunbar

• Poet, novelist, and playwright of the late 19th and early 20th centuries

• Wrote the lyrics for the musical comedy In Dahomey(1903), the first all-African-American musical produced on Broadway in New York

• Began writing short stories as a child and published his first poems at age 16 in a Dayton, Ohio newspaper

Kobe Bryant

• 5x NBA Champion

• 2x Olympic Gold Medalist (2008, 2012)

• Numbers 8 and 24 retired by Los Angeles Lakers

• 4th all time in points scored in NBA history (33,643)

• Won Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film Dear Basketball (2018)

Divine 9 and NPHC

There are nine historically Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs) that make up the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC).

Collectively, these organizations are referred to as "The Divine Nine." Each of these fraternities and sororities are rich in Black History - ties to one or more of these organizations may be found in many college-educated Black families globally.

Notable historical figures such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Arthur Ashe, Langston Hughes, Shirley Chisholm, Rep. John Lewis, Dionne Warwick and Hattie McDaniel are all members of Black Greek Letter Organizations.

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. was founded in 1906 at Cornell University by seven Jewels:Henry Arthur Callis, Charles Henry Chapman, Eugene Kinckle Jones, George Biddle Kelley, Nathaniel Allison Murray, Robert Harold Ogle, Vertner Woodson Tandy

Motto: First of All, Servants of All, We Shall Transcend AllColors: Black & Old GoldAims: Manly Deeds, Scholarship, and Love for all mankind

Notable Members:Dr. Martin Luther King Jr; W.E.B. DuBois; Thurgood Marshall; Dick Gregory; Cornel West

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. was founded in 1908 at Howard University by a group of 16 students led by Ethel Hedgeman Lyle.

Motto: By Culture and By MeritColors: Salmon Pink & Apple GreenEmphasis: Service and Culture

Notable Members:Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, Bernice King, Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Kamala Harris, Phylicia Rashad

Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc

Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. was founded in 1911 at Indiana University by a group of 10 students led by Elder Watson Diggs who is affectionately called “The Dreamer”

Motto: Achievement In Every Field of Human EndeavorColors: Crimson & CreamAims: To encourage honorable achievement in every field of human endeavor; To promote the spiritual, social, intellectual and moral welfare of its members; To assist the aims and purposes of colleges and universities; To inspire service in the public's interest.

Notable Members:Ralph Abernathy, Arthur Ashe, Johnnie Cochran, Cedric The Entertainer, John Singleton, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Penny Hardaway, Marvin Sapp, Byron Cage, Montell Jordan

Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc

Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. was founded in 1911 at Howard University by three juniors; Edgar Amos Love, Oscar J. Cooper and Frank Coleman along with their faculty adviser, Dr. Ernest Everett Just

Motto: Friendship is Essential to the SoulColors: Royal Purple & Old GoldPrinciples: Manhood, Scholarship, perseverance and uplift

Notable Members:Langston Hughes, Count Basie, Jesse Jackson, Steve Harvey, Tom Joyner, Shaquille O’Neal, Michael Jordan

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. was founded in 1913 at Howard University by a group of 22 students and currently has over 300,000 members

Motto: Intelligence is the Torch of WisdomColors: Crimson & CreamAims: Educational Development, Economic Development, International Awareness and Involvement, Physical and Mental Health, Political Awareness and Involvement.

Notable Members:Shirly Chisholm, Mary McLeod Bethune, Cicely Tyson, Shirley Caesar, Aretha Franklin, Lena Horne, Soledad O’Brien, Wilma Rudolph

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. was founded in 1914 at Howard University by three young male students, Abram Langston Taylor, Leonard Frances Morse, and Charles Ignatius Brown along with nine other charter members

Motto: Culture For Service and Service for HumanityColors: Royal Blue & Pure WhitePillars: Brotherhood, Scholarship, and Service

Notable Members:George Washington Carver, A. Philip Randolph, Rep. John Lewis, James Weldon Johnson, Huey P. Newton, Emmitt Smith, Hines Ward

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. was founded in 1920 at Howard University by five trailblazing coeds.

Motto: Scholarship, Service, Sisterhood and Finer WomanhoodColors: Royal Blue & Pure WhitePillars: A community-conscious action-oriented organization

Notable Members:Zora Neal Hurston, Gwendolyn Brooks, Sheryl Underwood, Lillie Leatherwood, Dionne Warwick, Sarah Vaughan

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. was founded in 1922 at Butler University by seven young educators.

Motto: Greater Service, Greater ProgressColors: Royal Blue & GoldEmphasis: Scholarship, Sisterhood and Service

Notable Members:Hattie McDaniel, Carolyn Tyler Guidry, MC Lyte, Kelly Price, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Victoria Rowell

Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc

Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. was founded during the American Civil Rights movement in 1963 at Morgan State University by 12 men.

Motto: Building A Tradition, Not Resting Upon OneColors: Charcoal Brown & Gilded GoldPurpose: The development and perpetuation of Scholarship, Leadership, Citizenship, Fidelity, and Brotherhood among Men

Notable Members:Bobby Rush, Billy Ocasio, Elvin Hayes, T.C. Carson, Jason Olazabal, Spencer Christian

BBOLDBridgestone’s Black/African-American

Employee Resource Group

For more information contact BBOLD:BBOLD@bfusa.com