Jan Matzeliger
*This date marks the birth of Jan Matzeliger in 1852. He was a Black inventor best known for his shoe-lasting machine that mechanically shaped the upper portions of shoes.
Born in Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana [now Suriname], the son of a white-Dutch father and a black Surinamese mother, Matzeliger began working as a sailor on a merchant ship at 19. After about six years, he settled in Lynn, where he found employment in a shoe factory and became interested in the possibilities of lasting shoes by machine. Working alone and at night for six months, he produced a model in wood and, on March 20, 1883, received a patent. His invention won swift acceptance and, within two years, had largely supplanted hand methods in Lynn.
His patent was subsequently bought by Sydney W. Winslow, who established the United Shoe Machine Company. The continued success of this business reduced the price of shoes across the nation by 50%, doubled wages, and improved working conditions for millions of people dependent on the shoe industry for their livelihood. The patent number is 459-899.
Matzeliger received several other patents for shoe-manufacturing machinery, including an improved model of his first lasting machine. He died Aug. 24, 1889, in Lynn, Mass., when only 37 years old, long before he had the chance to realize a share of the enormous profit derived from his invention.
