Introduction

Welcome to Mrs. Lange's Entrepreneurs WebQuest. Here you will learn more about inventors who are "unsung," inventors whose inventions created fame and fortune, women inventors, Hispanic-American inventors, and more recent success stories.

Many inventors have made important contributions to American businesses that were not attributed to them at the time. Nobody knows how many inventions were thought up by slaves before the Civil War, for example because the credit was taken by others. Many eary African American inventors died in poverty and obscurity, but there were some fortunate exceptions. In the 1900's, African-American inventors were better able to realize some reasonable return on their inventions. The story of women inventors are finally coming to light with the increasing interest in women's history. The ranks of Hispanic-American inventors has grown. The stories of inventors illustrate the diverse backgrounds and situations from which great inventors - and wonderful new business come.