In the 1800s, elevator doors were often left open to chance. The last person to use those doors might remember to close them. Or they might not. Then a real estate developer in Duluth invented automatic elevator doors and made the whole world a safer place to elevate. But that was just another day in the incredible life of the richest black man in the Midwest, Alexander Miles.

Minnesota Historia is a PBS North web series dedicated to Minnesota’s quirky past. It is hosted by Hailey Eidenschink and produced/edited/written by Mike Scholtz.