Was Jack Johnson Branded as ‘Monkey Wrench’ Term?

Listen to this article

A meme was published in the mid of December 2015 and started circulation widely on most of the social media channels with a claim that ‘monkey wrench’ term was initially used as defamatory term regarding its American-African innovator Jack Johnson. The Jim Crow Museum published a detailed story about the history of the wrench in February 2005 in order to answer the question regarding patent for Jack Johnson in 1922. Jack Johnson was the first Heavyweight Boxing Champion and branded a wrench on 18^th April 1922. But, he was not the first one branded for a wrench. Massachusetts and Solemon Merrick of Springfield were branded in 1835. It is important that a Baltimore mechanic Charles Moncky invented the monkey wrench in 1858.

So, Moncky’s wrench was being used with supposedly misspelling of his name. Although the main theme of the published meme is false that is showing white people are using term ‘monkey wrench’ to degrade the inventors, but there is a little truth by this rumor. Jack Johnson became the first American-African World Heavyweight Champion in 1922 and he was branded a wrench. It is important that branded name for Johnson doesn’t mean the innovation of the adjustable wrench or doesn’t mean the term ‘monkey wrench’. The Jim Crow Museum confirmed that the monkey wrench was named for Charles Moncky, its inventor, but some historians are not agreeing with it. Such as Herb Page presented an article on the website ‘Fine Tool Journal’ in 2002 with a title ‘Reach for the Wrench’ and described that Charles Moncky was not accountable for any invention regarding tools and there is not any tool followed by his name.