2007-02-13
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A patent for Black History Month
US Patent 322,177 (issued July 14, 1885) is believed to be the first US Patent issued to an African-American woman. Sarah E. Goode was born into slavery in 1850, but moved to Chicago after being freed at the end of the Civil War. She invented a hide-away bed to accommodate the small apartments that were common in that city at the time. During the day, the bed folds up into a desk, but can be unfolded into a bed at night.
( Drawings from the patent )