Every time you get into an elevator and observe the doors closing automatically, you are using an idea that is more than 130 years old. Alexander Miles, a barber born in Ohio, designed a system that enabled elevator car doors and shaft doors to open and close automatically, according to the National Inventors Hall of Fame. It was patented on October 11, 1887, and it may have helped save lives. The story also reflects the life of a Black businessman who ran a barbershop, invested in real estate, and solved a problem engineers had overlooked.
A barber with a big idea
