Benjamin, Miriam
1861-1947 · Contribution: 1888
Gong and Signal Chair for Hotels
Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Impact on the world
The chair allowed hotel guests to summon staff via a signal system from their seat, an early form of call-button technology later adapted for use in the U.S. House of Representatives. She also worked informally as a patent attorney, representing her brothers' patent applications, making her one of the few documented Black women with patent law expertise at the turn of the 20th century.
Life & background
An educator and inventor, Benjamin patented the Gong and Signal Chair, which let seated guests call for assistance. She was the second African-American woman to receive a U.S. patent.
Sources
- BlackPast.org; Lemelson Foundation; U.S. Patent 386,289
More in Household & Domestic Inventions
Alexander, Nathaniel
unknown
Improved folding chair with a pivoting, integrated book rest, designed for churches, Sunday schools, auditoriums, and choirs
Ammons, Virgie
1908-2000
Fireplace throat damper
Ashbourne, Alexander P.
c.1820-1915
Spring-loaded biscuit/cake cutter (hinged molding board with interchangeable shaped plates to cut a whole batch at once); pioneering processes for refining, treating, and preparing coconut oil for domestic use
Bailey, Leonard C.
1825-1918
Folding cabinet bed (U.S. Patent 629,286, 1899), adopted by the U.S. Army; also patented an Army-adopted hernia truss and a rapid mail-stamping machine, and co-founded Washington's Capitol Savings Bank