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Alexandra Miles is known for The Take Out Move (2022), Malice (2012) and Her Mind in Pieces (2019).
- 2 min
Oct 21, 2022 · SCAD graduate student Alexandra Miles discusses her film Blackbird, Project Blackbird, mental health, and the importance of connection.
- Eden Turner
- Staff
Lexi Miles Corrin is WAXON's Founder + CEO. Lexi was inspired to create a wax bar that was chic, inclusive, efficient and affordable.
Alexandra Miles (Founder/CEO PROJECT BLACKBIRD Inc.) is a Savannah, GA based producer, actor and non-profit founder with a focus on narrative film and mental health impact. Alexandra earned degrees in Business and Fine Arts from Boston University and SCAD before producing ‘Project Blackbird’.
- alexandra@projectblackbirdinc.org
- He Was Born in Ohio in 1838
- He Made His Early Living as A Barber
- He Married A Widow Named Candace J. Dunlap
- He Began Inventing Hair Care Products
- He Made His Fortune in Duluth, Minnesota
- He Built His Own Multi-Story Building Named Miles Block
- People Debate How He Created His Most Famous Invention
- He Received A Patent For His Automatic Elevator Doors in 1887
- He Was A Champion of Civil Rights
- He Died in 1918 at The Age of 80
Alexander was born in Pickaway County, Ohio in 1838 to Michael and Mary Miles. Little is known of his early life, but it is thought he spent his formative years in Ohio before moving to Waukesha, Wisconsin in the late 1850s.
After moving to Wisconsin, Miles took up a career as a barber, a pursuit which would later earn him great wealth and renown. He moved again to Winona, Minnesota, where in 1864 he purchased the OK Barber Shop.
While in Winona, Alexander met his future wife Candace J. Dunlap, a divorced white woman who owned a millinery shop in the city. Born in New York, Candace grew up in Indiana before moving to Winona with her first husband Samuel, with whom she already had two children. She and Miles were soon married and began living together with her young daughter...
While working as a barber, Alexander developed and manufactured a new hair care product which he called Tunisian Hair Dressing. He claimed the product was “for cleansing and beautifying the hair, arresting its falling off, and imparting to it a healthy and natural tone and color.” With a penchant for inventing early on, in around 1871 he received h...
Seeking new opportunity, in 1875 Alexander and his family moved to the up-and-coming city of Duluth, Minnesota. In his own words: “I was in search of a place with which I could grow up. There were two or three other places at that time attracting attention, but it seemed to me that Duluth had the best prospects of all.” He set up a successful barbe...
With both his barbershop prowess and the success of his patented products, Miles became a wealthy and well-known figure in Duluth. Looking for a new venture, he then turned his attention to real estate and was soon inducted into the Duluth Chamber of Commerce, becoming its first black member. In 1884, he commissioned the design and construction of ...
The exact path that brought Alexander Miles from hair tonics to the invention of the automatic elevator door is unclear. It would seem, however, that as he went up in the world (quite literally), Miles became more acquainted with high-rise buildings and the fatal flaw in how they were used. Some state it was his journeys up and down the three floor...
Whatever the reason, Alexander had identified just how dangerous the elevators of the 19th century were. As they had to be opened manually, either by an operator or the passengers themselves, people were often at risk of plummeting down the shaft with horrific injury. Miles’ design included a flexible belt attached to the elevator cage, with drums ...
Not only was Alexander an excellent barber and talented inventor, he was also a champion of civil rightsand something of a local leader in the African American community of Duluth. In 1899, he founded the United Brotherhood, an insurance company that insured black people who were often denied coverage by white companies.
On 7 May 1918, Miles passed away aged 80. In 2007, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, whose nominees were required to hold a US patent of significant contribution to US welfare. He features there amongst the likes of Alexander Graham Bell, Nikola Tesla and Hedy Lamarr.
- Lily Johnson
Alexandra Miles (Founder/CEO PROJECT BLACKBIRD Inc.) is a Savannah, GA based producer and actor with a focus on impact narrative filmmaking. Alexandra earned degrees in Business and Fine Arts from Boston University and SCAD before producing ‘Project Blackbird’.
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Alexander Miles (May 18, 1838 – May 7, 1918) was an African American inventor and businessman, known for being awarded a patent for automatically opening and closing elevator doors. He was awarded U.S. patent 371,207 on October 11, 1887.
