Garrett Morgan

This new song cycle “Garrett Morgan” chronicles the prolific life of a Black inventor who lived at the turn of the 20th century and struggled to receive recognition for his work.

The show spotlights his wife Mary’s unyielding belief in his invention and in her husband which was instrumental in giving him the resilience to carry on.  Featuring Garrett and Mary as protagonists, the couple takes on a society that’s not quite ready to embrace them with open arms.

This mini-musical is being written by collaborators Ashley Hazzard and Alexis Kesselman. Below is the first song we wrote: “G.A. Morgan Hair Refining Company” about Garrett’s breakthrough in chemical hair treatments.

Alexis and I decided early on that we were interested in telling a story rooted in historical fact, centered around a scientist or inventor. The first person that came to my mind was a man my family taught me about growing up who lived in our town in Paris, KY. I was vaguely familiar with the history of this Black man named Garrett Morgan who invented the three-way traffic signal. Little did we know that this invention was only the tip of the iceberg!

After learning more about him, Alexis and I fell in love with his story and began to develop this song cycle about his life.

In this song, “Run it Again”, we explore his revolutionary invention, the early iteration of what later became the gas mask. In our research, we were moved to learn that Garrett received so much pushback when trying to sell this product to a mainstream audience, that he eventually hired a white man to pose as him with the hope of saving more lives with his safety hood. He played the sidekick and wasn’t acknowledged for his genius until decades later. We were interested in the emotional labor that went into not being recognized for his contribution to society and how crucial it was to have the support of his wife to continue inventing, despite the outward prejudice he faced.

We were so pleased with our first performance of this song and grateful for the overwhelmingly enthusiastic response we received! We cannot wait to keep writing this song cycle together and to honor Garrett’s legacy.

Writers:  Alexis Kesselman (“Glimpse of Us”) and Ashley Hazzard

Arranger: DJ Hendricks

Performers: Ashley Hazzard and Cartreze Tucker

Performed at Five Angels Theatre on February 17th, 2022