People, Locations, Episodes

A Black Man Receives a Patent For a Furniture Caster

*On this date in 1891, Charles Paterson received a patent for a furniture caster. The patent number was #452,940.  Charles Patterson, a 19th-century carriage (the car) company entrepreneur, was the inventor. 

A Refrigerator Device is Patented by a Black Man

On this date in 1891, John Standard from Newark, NJ, received a patent for a refrigerator.

Specifications of the patent are as follows: This invention relates to improvements in refrigerators; and it consists of certain novel arrangements and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, and final led embodied in the clauses of the claim. PDF version U.S. Patent 455,891 (130K), p.958-959.

A Black Man Receives a Valve Patent

*On this date in 1891, a Black man received a Valve patent.  Machinist and union activist Frank J. Ferrell was the inventor; his patent number was 462,762. 

Lester Melrose, Blues Music Producer born

*Lester Melrose was born on this date in 1891. He was a white-American talent scout and producer of Chicago blues music. Lester Franklin Melrose was born in Sumner, Illinois, and was the second of six children of Frank and Mollie Melrose, who owned a small farm. He relocated to Chicago around 1914 and tried unsuccessfully as […]

A Black Man Receives a Valve Patent

*On this date in 1892, a Black man received a Valve patent.  Machinist and union activist Frank J. Ferrell was the inventor; his patent number was 467,796.

The Sydenham Hospital Opens

*Sydenham Hospital is celebrated on this date in 1892. This private hospital was founded in a Harlem brownstone and served African primarily American patients.   Sydenham began as a healthcare facility in Harlem, located at 124 Street and Manhattan Avenue. Around 1924, the hospital moved to a new 200-bed building at the intersection of West 125 Street and Lenox […]

The Ironing Board is Patented by a Black Woman

*Sarah Boone received a patent on this date 1892 for an appliance that would help to neatly iron clothing.

This device, the forerunner to our modern ironing board was made of a narrow wooden board, with collapsible legs and a padded cover and was specifically designed for the fitted clothing worn during that time period.

Prior to her inventions, people were forced to resort to simply using a table or being creative in laying a plank of wood across two chairs or small tables. The registration filing was U.S. Patent #473,653 on December 30, 1887.

Reference:

Carter Westley, Lawyer, Activist, and News Journalist born

*Carter Wesley was born on this date in 1892. He was a Black lawyer, newspaperman, and political activist. Carter Walker Wesley was born in Houston, Texas. He grew up in the city’s first and most successful Black neighborhood, Freedmen’s Town. Shortly after completing high school, Westley moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and graduated magna cum laude in […]

Frederick McKinley Jones, Inventor born

This date marks the birth of Frederick McKinley Jones, an African American inventor, in 1893.

Robert Lee Hill, Farmer, and Union Activist born

*Robert Lee Hill was born on this date in 1892. He was an African American sharecropper, and activist and founder of the Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America.

A. G. Gaston, Financier born

On this date in 1892, A. G. Gaston was born. He was an African American businessman and financial activist.

The Baltimore Afro-American Newspaper is Founded

*On this date in 1892, the first issue of the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper hit the streets. This black owned and operated newspaper has crusaded for racial equality and economic advancement for African- Americans for more than a century.

Victor Green, Travel Guide Publisher born

*Victor Green was born on this date in 1892.  He was a Black postal employee and publisher.   Born in Manhattan, New York City, Victor Hugo Green was named after the noted French author.  He was the eldest of three children of Alice A. and William H. Green. His family moved, and he grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey.   1913, Green began […]

Theodore Lawless, Dermatologist born

Theodore Lawless was born on this date in 1892. He was an African American dermatologist, philanthropist, and medical pioneer.

Bessye Bearden, Journalist born

*Bessye Bearden’s birth is remembered on November 18, 1893. She was a Black journalist and civic activist.   Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, as Bessye Banks, she was the youngest child of George T. and Carrie O. Banks. She attended schools in North Carolina and Hartshorn Memorial College in Richmond, Virginia. She graduated from Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute (now Virginia State University). […]