— ADVERTISEMENT — Bessie Blount Griffin is best remembered for her 1951 invention of an electronic device that helped amputees feed themselves. The device was meant to assist solders injured fighting in World War II (WWII) from 1939 to 1945. WWII involved the alignment of the major world powers into two opposing military alliances in a …
Miriam Benjamin was an African American schoolteacher and inventor born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1861. Her parents were Francis Benjamin (a Jewish man) and Eliza Benjamin (an African American woman); she was also the eldest of six siblings. Her siblings were, Eva S. Benjamin, Charlton D. “Lottie”, Walter W. Sampson, Lyde Wilson, and Edgar …
Miriam Elizabeth Benjamin – A Woman of Many Talents Read More »
Joseph Winters was an inventor who advanced the fire escape ladder that would years later help save countless lives. He created foldable or collapsible ladders that enabled fire trucks to maneuver into corners in narrow alleys and streets. He received a patent for the initial ladder and got another for further improvements made years later. …
Joseph Winters – Inventor, Writer, and Abolitionist Read More »
Lloyd Augustus Hall was an African American chemist and inventor, who contributed to the science of food preservation. He created an innovative method of preserving meat known as “flash drying”. Hall was born in 1894 in Elgin, Illinois and was raised in the Christian belief system as his father was a minister and his grandfather …
Marjorie Joyner was an African American born in 1896. She hailed from Monterey, Virginia where her parents, George Stewart and Annie Stewart, lived before moving to Dayton, Ohio, soon afterward. However, her parents divorced later, and this resulted in the frequent interruption of her education. She married Robert S. Joyner (a podiatrist) in 1916. Schooling …
Marjorie Stewart Joyner – Creator of Opportunities Read More »
Patricia E. Bath, ophthalmologist, laser and creative research scientist, and supporter of visual deficiency counteractive action, treatment, and cure. Her achievements incorporate the innovation of a new gadget and procedure for cataract surgery procedure known as Laserphaco, the formation of another discipline known as “community ophthalmology.” She was the first woman member of the Jules …
Alexander Miles was born in 1838 in Duluth, Minnesota. He moved to Waukesha, Wisconsin where he earned a living as a barber in the 1860s. Later he moved to Winona, Minnesota in 1870, where he met his wife, Candace J. Dunlap, a white woman born in New York City in 1834. Together they had a …
Personal and Social Life Granville Woods, a prolific African American inventor, was born on April 23, 1856, in Columbia, Ohio. His parents, Tailer and Martha Woods, were free African Americans. His brother Lyates Woods also had various inventions. Granville Woods was well-spoken and articulate and preferred stylish black attire. Schooling He attended school in Columbus …
Jan Ernst Matzeliger invented a shoe lasting machine that made footwear more affordable in the 19th century. Matzeliger’s lasting machine increased the speed of the mechanized shoe making process and created more employment opportunities especially for minorities. His father owned a machine shop. Under his father’s supervision, Jan perfected his skills. Quick Facts Name: Jan …
Marie Van Brittan Brown and her significant other, Albert, made an early closed-circuit TV framework to be utilized for home monitoring. That security system was the pioneer of all advanced home security technology used today. Brown was born in Queens, New York, on October 22, 1922, and lived there until her passing on February 2, …
Marie Van Brittan Brown – Home Security Innovator Read More »
