Research Catalog

Lucean Arthur Headen the making of a black inventor and entrepreneur

Title
Lucean Arthur Headen [electronic resource] : the making of a black inventor and entrepreneur / Jill D. Snider.
Author
Snider, Jill D.
Publication
Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, [2020]

Available Online

  • Available from home with a valid library card
  • Available onsite at NYPL

Details

Description
1 online resource (xiv, 310 pages) : illustrations.
Summary
"Born in Carthage, North Carolina, Lucean Arthur Headen (1879-1957) grew up amid former slave artisans. Inspired by his grandfather, a wheelwright, and great-uncle, a toolmaker, he dreamed as a child of becoming an inventor. His ambitions suffered the menace of Jim Crow and the reality of a new inventive landscape in which investment was shifting from lone inventors to the new 'industrial scientists.' But determined and ambitious, Headen left the South, and after toiling for a decade as a Pullman porter, risked everything to pursue his dream. He eventually earned eleven patents, most for innovative engine designs and anti-icing methods for aircraft. An equally capable entrepreneur and sportsman, Headen learned to fly in 1911, manufactured his own 'Pace Setter' and 'Headen Special' cars in the early 1920s, and founded the first national black auto racing association in 1924, all establishing him as an important authority on transportation technologies among African Americans. Emigrating to England in 1931, Headen also proved a successful manufacturer, operating engineering firms in Surrey that distributed his motor and other products worldwide for twenty-five years. Though Headen left few personal records, Jill D. Snider recreates the life of this extraordinary man through historical detective work in newspapers, business and trade publications, genealogical databases, and scholarly works"--
Uniform Title
Lucean Arthur Headen (Online)
Alternative Title
Lucean Arthur Headen (Online)
Subject
  • Headen, L. A
  • African American inventors > United States > Biography
  • African American automobile industry workers > Great Britain > Biography
  • African American automobile industry workers > United States > Biography
  • African Americans > History > 20th century > Biography
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references (pages [263]-295) and index.
Access (note)
  • Access restricted to authorized users.
ISBN
9781469654362 (canceled/invalid)
LCCN
2019054570
OCLC
ssj0002248544
Author
Snider, Jill D.
Title
Lucean Arthur Headen [electronic resource] : the making of a black inventor and entrepreneur / Jill D. Snider.
Imprint
Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, [2020]
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages [263]-295) and index.
Access
Access restricted to authorized users.
Connect to:
Available from home with a valid library card
Available onsite at NYPL
View in Legacy Catalog