Sarah Boone

Sarah Boone (née Sarah Marshall; c. 1832 – 1904) was an African-American inventor.

Invention On April 26, 1892, Boone was granted United States patent number 473,653 for her improvements to the ironing board. Boone's ironing board was designed to improve the quality of ironing the sleeves and bodies of women's garments. The ironing board was very narrow, curved, and made of wood. The shape and structure allowed it to fit a sleeve and it was reversible, so one could iron both sides of the sleeve.

Boone is regarded as the second African-American woman to be granted a patent, after Judy Reed. Other early African-American woman inventors were Miriam Benjamin, Ellen Eglin, and Sarah E. Goode.

Personal life The patent drawing for the ironing board invented by Sarah Boone. Sarah Marshall was born in Craven County, North Carolina, near the town of New Bern, in 1832. Along with her three siblings, she was born into slavery and hence barred from formal education. Sarah was educated by her grandfather at home. They had eight children.

The Boone family left North Carolina for New Haven, Connecticut, before the outbreak of the American Civil War. Boone worked as a dressmaker and belonged to the Dixwell Avenue Congregational Church.

Death Boone died in 1904, and is buried in a family plot in Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven.