Who Was "The Real McCoy?"
Black History Year
PushBlack
4.6 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 28 October 2025
⏱️ 2 minutes
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Summary
We all know that the good stuff is “the real McCoy.” And every invention from this Black innovator was so head and shoulders above its competitors that his name became synonymous with top quality.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | We all know that the good stuff is the real McCord. |
| 0:07.0 | And every invention from this black innovator was so head and shoulders above his competitors |
| 0:12.0 | that his name became synonymous with top quality. |
| 0:16.0 | I'm Len from Push Black, and this is Two-Minute Black History, |
| 0:20.0 | what you didn't learn in school. |
| 0:25.8 | The Underground Railroad was the way to freedom for Elijah McCoy's enslaved parents |
| 0:34.9 | who fled from Kentucky to Canada. And even though there weren't real trains on the Underground Railroad, their son would |
| 0:42.0 | grow up to transform the way steam locomotives operated. |
| 0:46.2 | McCoy was trained in Scotland as a mechanical engineer, but because black people could |
| 0:50.5 | not be hired as engineers in the United States, the only job he could get was as a |
| 0:55.8 | fireman and oilman for the Michigan Central Railroad. In 1872, McCoy registered a patent for |
| 1:02.7 | his oil drip cup that helped steam locomotives travel longer distances without overheating or |
| 1:09.1 | stopping for maintenance. The invention revolutionized the way people and goods move around North America. |
| 1:16.0 | Other inventors tried to copy the oil drip cup, but none of them works as well as the |
| 1:22.4 | real McCoy. |
| 1:23.3 | And after his invention was used in most railroads across North America, he'd go on to hold nearly 60 more patents. |
| 1:35.9 | McCoy's genius revolutionized train travel. |
| 1:44.1 | His determination and insistence on quality prove that black innovation is the real McCoy. |
| 1:51.8 | In order to move towards the future, you've got to look to the past. |
| 1:56.0 | This has been Two Minute Black History, a podcast by Push Black. |
| 1:59.7 | If you enjoyed this episode and want to show your support, |
| 2:02.6 | please rate and subscribe to our podcast. |
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