2018 Black History Month

Alexander Miles(1838–1918)

Alexander Miles invented an important safety feature for elevators—The automatic doors. During the 19th century, passengers on elevators had to manually open and close the doors to the elevator and its shaft. If a rider forgot to close the shaft door, other people could accidentally fall down the long, vertical hole. Mr. Miles’s invention allowed both doors to close at once, preventing accidents.

His invention was patented in 1867. U.S. Patent 371,207.