Today In Black History
Sarah Boone, 19th Century dressmaking entrepreneur and inventor of the modern ironing board
Issue #555 Today In Black History, Thursday, April 4, 2024
Starting October 27, 2025, it is exactly 250 days until July 4th, 2026. I will be re-posting previous “We Are Speaking” articles. Enjoy the re-post below, and please consider being a paid subscriber. Thanks!
Today’s Black History WOW!
Sarah Boone was a 19th-century African-American dressmaker who was awarded a patent for her improved ironing board. She was born Sarah Marshall near the town of New Bern in Craven County, North Carolina, in 1832. The daughter of enslaved parents, she earned her freedom with her 1847 marriage to James Boone, a free African American.
Utilizing a network tied to the Underground Railroad, Boone migrated with her husband, children, and widowed mother to New Haven, Connecticut, before the Civil War.
The family settled into an African American neighborhood near Dixwell Avenue, where Boone worked as a dressmaker and her husband as a bricklayer until he died in the mid-1870s.
Sarah Boone was an accomplished dressmaker and entrepreneur. She owned and operated a successful dressmaking business in New Haven, Connecticut, creating custom garments for clients from all walks of life. Boone's attention to detail and impeccable craftsmanship earned her a reputation as one of the top dressmakers in the area. According to records, Boone was successful enough to own her own house.
In her patent application, she wrote that the purpose of her invention was "to produce a cheap, simple, convenient and highly effective device, particularly adapted to be used in ironing the sleeves and bodies of ladies' garments." Her invention created a narrower, curved board that could slip into sleeves, allowing a garment to be shifted without wrinkling. Her ironing board was also padded to eliminate the impressions produced by a wooden board, and it was collapsible for easy storage.
Sarah Boone was awarded U.S. Patent No. 473,653 on April 26, 1892, making her one of the first African American women to earn that formal distinction for inventors.
Sarah Boone died of Bright's disease on October 29, 1904, and was buried alongside her mother and husband in New Haven's Evergreen Cemetery.
Today In Black History
- In 1956, Booker T. Washington, educator and founder of Tuskegee Institute, became the first Black person to be honored on a U.S. postage stamp twice.
- In 1976, FBI documents were made public that revealed that the government had conducted an intensive campaign against civil rights organizations.
- In 1977, Black inventor Gertrude Downing invented the corner cleaner attachment.
