Boykin Pacemaker Inventor

Look around the house today and you’ll see a variety of devices that utilize components made by Boykin – including computers, radios and TV sets. Boykin’s inventions are all the more impressive when one considers he was an African American in a time of segregation and the field of electronics was not as well-established as it is today.

He earned 11 patents and invented 28 different electronic devices. Some of his lesser known inventions include a burglar-proof cash register and a chemical air filter – both of which were never produced. His most famous invention was the control device for the pacemaker that uses electrical impulses to maintain a regular heartbeat.