Sarah Boone

1
Black Inventors
By Holly Dignan Oakland School, 2005
2
Sarah Boone

• In 1892, Sarah Boone invented the ironing board
  in New Haven, Connecticut.
• Sarah Boones ironing board was narrow and
  curved, and it was also reversible.  Making the
  ironing board reversible made it easy to iron
  both sides of a sleeve.
• Sarah Boone was one of the first African American
  women to ever receive a patent for an invention.

3
Lewis Latimer

• In 1881, Latimer received a patent for inventing
  the carbon filament for the electric light bulb.
  This filament made it cheaper and safer to use
  the light bulb.
• Latimer invented the flushing water closet, now
  called a toilet, for railway trains.
• Latimer also created the threaded socket, which
  allows the bulb to screw into a fixture.

4
George Washington Carver

• In the early 1900s, Carver developed a crop
  rotation method, which revolutionized southern
  agriculture.
• Carver invented 325 uses for the peanut.
• From common clays, he created dyes and paints.
• Carver looked at ways of using the sweet potato
  and was able to develop more than 115 products
  from it including flour and starch (the United
  States Army used many of his products during
  World War I.)

5
Phillip Downing

• Phillip Downing invented the letter drop, public
  mailbox in 1891.
• Downing designed the mailbox to protect the mail
  and to make the mailman's job easier.
• This new mailbox prevented others from stealing
  letters out of them and protected letters from
  the rainwater blowing in.

6
Madame C. J. Walker

• In 1905, Madame C. J. Walker invented a method to
  soften and smooth black women's hair using
  chemical softeners, hot combs, and curlers, --
  instead of a hot flat-iron.
• Walker developed The Walker Method, which
  trained her employees to walk door to door
  selling her products.
• Walker was the first self made women
  millionaire in America.

7
J. L. Love

• J. L. Love received a patent on November 23, 1897
  for the Love
• Sharpener.
• Love's invention was the very simple, portable
  pencil sharpener that many artists use today.
• The pencil is put into the opening of the
  sharpener and rotated by hand. The shavings stay
  inside the sharpener.

8
William Purvis

• In 1890, William Purvis patented improvements to
  the fountain pen.
• His pen was more durable and less expensive.
• You could carry this pen in your pocket.
• Purvis, also invented two machines that made
  paper bags and a paper bag fastener.

9
Thomas Stewart

• Thomas Stewart invented the first mechanically
  clamping mop on June 11, 1893.
• Stewart's mop was special because the head could
  be replaced by unclamping the old mop head and
  clamping on a new one.
• Thomas Stewart wanted to create an easier way for
  people to clean their floors so they would keep
  the floors cleaner and everyone could have better
  health.

10
Joseph Winters

• Joseph Winters invented a fire escape that was
  mounted on fire wagons in 1878.
• Winters noticed that firemen had to take ladders
  off of their wagons to climb to windows, rescue
  people, and spray water on fires. He thought they
  should have ladders that they could raise that
  were already mounted to the wagon.
• Winters' invention was important because a set of
  ladders could reach the high windows on a tall
  building.

11
Benjamin Banneker

• Benjamin Banneker is known as the First African
  American Scientist.
• He built the first wooden clock in America that
  kept accurate time and struck on the hour for
  over 50 years.
• He created a table that showed the locations
• of the sun, the moon, the stars, and the
  planets at different times of the year. His works
  are still studied today.
• He published the, Benjamin Bannekers Almanac,
  from 1792 to 1797.
• Banneker was a friend of Thomas Jefferson.

12
John Burr

• On May 9, 1899, John Albert Burr invented the
  first rotary-blade lawn mower.
• His lawn mower did not become clogged with grass
  clippings as easily.
• It was now possible to cut closer to wall edges
  and buildings.

13
Garrett A. Morgan

• In 1916, Garrett Morgan received a patent for a
  safety hood and smoke protector (gas mask).
• On November 20, 1923, Garrett Morgan was awarded
  a patent for a three - position traffic signal
  (stop, go, and all directional stop -for
  passengers to cross).
• Morgan invented a zig zag attachment for the
  sewing machine.

14
Success is to be measured not so much by the
position that one has reached in life as by the
obstacles which were overcome while trying to
succeed. by Booker T.
Washington