Garrett A. Morgan was an African American inventor and businessman from Cleveland, Ohio. He is best known for inventing the safety hood and smoke protector, which later became known as the gas mask. In 1914, Morgan patented his invention. Two years later, a refined model of his early gas mask won a gold medal at the International Exposition of Sanitation and Safety. This improved gas mask was notably used by Morgan himself to rescue 32 men trapped in an underground tunnel beneath Lake Erie in 1916
