It is important to relate the biographies of black inventors and the evolution of engineering and technological education for blacks. This historical record is about people coming to grips with society's inadequacies and inequalities and moving beyond these to a participatory role in the nation's technological and engineering community. This book contains the following chapters: (1) "Inventors and Tinkers"; (2) "The Washington/Du Bois Debate"; (3) "Educational Opportunity and the Development of Black Institutions"; (4) "Three Black Engineers"; (5) "The Era of the Brown Decision and Sputnik"; (6) "The Sixties"; (7) "The Seventies"; and (8) "The Eighties." Historical materials are appended. Contains bibliographical references and index. (PR)