Leonard C. Bailey (c. 1825 - September 1, 1918) was an African-American entrepreneur,

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

, and banker. He founded one of the first African-American banks in the United States. Bailey was born in about 1825 to a free African-American family. Growing up in poverty, Bailey worked as a barber and built up a chain of barbershops in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Bailey invented and received

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

s for a series of devices, many designed for military or government use. These included a collapsible, folding bed designed for easy storage and portability, an innovation adopted by the U.S. military; a rapid mail-stamping machine used by the

U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

; a device to shunt trains to different tracks; and a

hernia A hernia is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ (anatomy), organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. Various types of hernias can occur, most commonly involving the abdomen, and specifically the gr ...

truss adopted into wide use by the U.S. Army Medical Board. Bailey had to escape from a military camp after there was an attempt to capture him as a slave while he was dropping off his inventions. These inventions provided him with a sizable income. Bailey helped establish the Capital Savings Bank of Washington, D.C., one of the first African-American owned banks in the U.S. During the

Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced political upheaval that led to the political realignment of 1896 and the pres ...

, the bank maintained its solvency by obtaining a personal loan from a national bank. Bailey was a member of the first mixed-race jury in Washington, D.C., which found Millie Gaines not guilty of murder by reason of insanity. He served as a member of the board of directors of the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth where a residence hall was named after him. Bailey died on September 1, 1918, of a sudden illness. He was buried in what is now known as the National Harmony Memorial Park in Largo, Maryland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Leonard C. 1820s births 1918 deaths African-American businesspeople African-American inventors 19th-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from Washington, D.C.