Pioneering Inventor Resurrected The story behind the "Real McCoy" By Sarah B. Hood Black Canadian actor-playwright-director Andrew Moodie has been known as an insightful commentator on the contemporary scene since his first play, the 1996 Chalmers Award-winning Riot, which was loosely based on reaction to the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles. But recently, he's been spending a lot of time delving into a somewhat obscure passage in Canadian history: the origin of the phrase "The Real McCoy." When he heard by chance that it referred to a 19th-century African Canadian man, at first he was dubious. But when he looked into it, he discovered the story of Elijah McCoy. "I did a lot of research, and there's very little known about him, and what we do know is sometimes in contention," says Moodie. " For example, there are those who say he moved back to America at a young age, and there are those who say that he didn't. I think the truth of what happened in his life is a mixture of a lot of different things." We do know that McCoy was born in Colchester, a town south of Windsor, Ontario on the north shore of Lake Erie, in what was then known as Upper Canada. His father George McCoy had fought in the Upper Canada Rebellion (a rebellion against the British colonial government in 1837 and ’38), and as a result had been granted 160 acres of land by the Crown. Elijah McCoy was an inventor who created a brilliant new take on a necessary component of the steam engine. "He revolutionized the steam engine in the same way that Apple revolutionized the iPod," explains Moodie. "He was Black, but to sell it he couldn't be Black, or no one would buy it." ___________________________ He revolutionized the steam engine in the same way that Apple revolutionized the iPod. ___________________________ Nonetheless, the McCoy component became so well known and trusted that customers would insist on receiving "The Real McCoy", a phrase that has long outlived its namesake. "But unfortunately, due to many reasons, he died in an asylum in Boston," says Moodie. Working on a play about Elijah McCoy has naturally caused Moodie to think about the difference between McCoy's time and our own. "I think, to be honest, to a certain degree we've come a long way. But one of the things that we've seen recently in Toronto is that there are still a lot of young people of colour who feel alienated from society, because they think their colour and their culture are a barrier to participating in the life of their country," he says. This pertains even in the world of the theatre. "For example, there's still a pretty strong colour barrier at some place like the Shaw [Festival in Niagara-On-The-Lake]. It's hard for someone like me or Alison Sealy-Smith to get lead roles there, whereas other theatres like the Factory in Toronto can give me the opportunity to write and direct my own show," Moodie says. "I would say 95% of the theatres in Toronto have opened their doors to people of colour." This article first appeared in Word Magazine at www.wordmag.com. Sarah B. Hood has published hundreds of magazine articles in dozens of periodicals. She co-authored the book Toronto: The Unknown City with Howard Akler and she continues her urban explorations at www.unknowntoronto.blogspot.com. Sarah edits the Visual and Performing Arts section of the online magazine www.suite101.com. You can read her theatre writing monthly at www.wordmag.com and weekly at www.tandemnews.com. This website: Copyright © 2006 Dream World Media, LLC. / Urban Mozaik Magazine. All rights reserved. The opinions expressed in Urban Mozaik Magazine are not necessarily those of Urban Mozaik Magazine and the publisher cannot be held responsible for them. This website/publication, in whole or in part, may not be reproduced without written permission from the publisher.