Edmond berger biography for kids

Transportation history cannot be told without the influence of Black history. Many of the devices we use and the inventions we travel with were made or impacted by influential Black leaders and trailblazers.

Our world today would look a lot different without the work of these prominent Black figures, so let’s acknowledge these works not just during Black history month but as part of transportation history.

Andrew Jackson Beard — Rotary Steam Engine & Railroad Coupler

Andrew Jackson Beard (1849–1921) was born into slavery in Jefferson County, Alabama.

Emancipated at age fifteen, he then became a farmer and was in charge of a flour mill. Although Beard did not have any formal educational training, he could not stop his brain from tinkering and thinking up new inventions.

Edmond berger biography for kids printable

In 1892, he patented a new type of steam-driven rotary engine. During this time, the U.S. was looking for cheaper, alternative power sources to help drive industrialization other than electricity. Bear