Sarah Boone

Sarah Boone
Born Sarah Marshall
1832
Craven County, North Carolina
Died 1904
New Haven, Connecticut
Other names Boon
Occupation
  • Inventor
  • dressmaker
Known for Inventor of an ironing board improvement

Sarah Boone (1832–1904) was an African American inventor who on April 26, 1892, obtained United States patent rights for her improvements to the ironing board. Boone's ironing board was designed to improve the quality of ironing sleeves and the bodies of women's garments. The board was very narrow, curved, and made of wood. The shape and structure allowed it to fit a sleeve and it was reversible, so one could iron both sides of the sleeve.[1][2] Along with Miriam Benjamin, Ellen Eglin, and Sarah Goode, Boone was one of four African American women inventors of her time who developed new technology for the home.[3]

Biography

The patent drawing for the ironing board invented by Sarah Boone.

Sarah Marshall was born in Craven County, North Carolina, near the town of New Bern in January 1st 1832.[4] She was a former slave.[5] On November 25, 1847, in New Bern, she married James Boone (or Boon);[4][6][Notes 1] they would have eight children.[9]

The Boone family left North Carolina for New Haven, Connecticut,[10] before the outbreak of the American Civil War;[4] they settled into a house at 30 Winter Street.[11] James Boone worked as a brick mason[4][12] until his death on January 18, 1876 while his wife was listed in New Haven directories as a dressmaker.[13]

Sarah Marshall Boone died in 1904 and is buried in a family plot in Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven.[4]

Notes

  1. ↑ Slaves were not allowed to obtain legal marriages in North Carolina.[7] For a marriage to be legal, either banns had to be published or it had to be recorded with the county clerk.[8] James and Sarah's marriage was legally recorded.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Patent US473653 - IRONING-BOARD - Google Patents
  2. ↑ Sullivan, Otha Richard (2002). African American Women Scientists and Inventors. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 12. ISBN 9780471387077.
  3. ↑ McNeill, Leila (7 February 2017). "These Four Black Women Inventors Reimagined the Technology of the Home". Smithsonian. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Bellis, Mary. "Hate Creases? Sarah Boone's Invention Could Help". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  5. ↑ "Simply Ingenious: The Ironing Board". Tampa Bay Times. 1998-02-14. p. 37. Retrieved 2018-02-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 "Craven County North Carolina Marriages 1740-1868". FamilySearch. Raleigh, North Carolina: State Archive of North Carolina. 25 November 1847. p. 30. Film #004364799, image 35. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  7. ↑ Nathans, Sydney (Fall 1996). "The Two Black Classes of Antebellum North Carolina". NC Pedia. Raleigh, North Carolina: Tar Heel Junior Historian Association, NC Museum of History. Archived from the original on 12 December 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  8. ↑ "Marriage, History of". North Carolina History Project. Raleigh, North Carolina: John Locke Foundation. 2016. Archived from the original on 22 July 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  9. ↑ "1900 U. S. Census City of New Haven, Connecticut". FamilySearch. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. 11 June 1900. p. 13-A. NARA record series T623 roll 146. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  10. ↑ Perry, Paul Wardell (1 January 2000). "Little Things That Made a Big Difference". The New Crisis – via HighBeam Research. (Subscription required (help)).
  11. ↑ "1880 U. S. Federal Census for New Haven County (Connecticut) Enumeration District 91, Sheet 46, Lines 46-50 and Sheet 47, Line 1". FamilySearch. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. 8 June 1880. pp. 46B–47A. NARA record series T9, Roll 106. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  12. ↑ "1870 U. S. Federal Census for the First Ward of the City of New Haven, New Haven County, Connecticut, Line 34". FamilySearch. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. 9 July 1870. p. 175. NARA record series M593, Roll 109. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  13. ↑ New Haven City Directory for 1885... (New Haven: Price & Lee, 1885), 460
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