Miriam Benjamin

Miriam Benjamin

African American teacher and inventor
Date of Birth: 16.09.1861
Country: USA

Content:
  1. Early Life and Education
  2. Invention and Patent
  3. Legal Career and Family
  4. Later Years and Family Contributions

Early Life and Education

Miriam Benjamin was an African-American teacher and inventor born in Charleston, South Carolina. She was the eldest of five children of Francis Benjamin and Eliza Hopkins. Although Miriam claimed to be born in 1868, official documents state that she was born in 1861. In 1873, Miriam and her family moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where she attended school. She later relocated to Washington, D.C., where she taught in municipal schools.

Invention and Patent

In 1888, Miriam Benjamin received a patent for the Gong and Signal Chair, a device designed to reduce hotel expenses by minimizing the number of required waiters and servants while improving comfort for hotel guests. The idea behind her invention was simple - instead of calling for service by yelling or clapping, hotel guests could press a button on the chair, which activated a sound and light signal for the attending waiter, indicating the request and the guest making it. Benjamin's system was adopted by various services, including the United States House of Representatives, and has influenced the modern airline stewardess call system. Her patent was the second ever granted to a black woman in the history of American patent law, with Sarah Goode being the first.

Legal Career and Family

After spending some time in medical school at Howard University, Miriam Benjamin pursued a career in law. She specialized in patent law and established her own practice after completing her studies. Benjamin never married and lived most of her life with her widowed mother. They resided in Boston.

Later Years and Family Contributions

In 1920, Miriam Benjamin returned to Boston and worked with her brother, lawyer Edgar Pinkerton Benjamin. Edgar had graduated from Boston University School of Law and ran a successful private practice in the city. He was notably involved in the creation of the Benjamin Healthcare Center in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Miriam's other brother, Lyde Wilson Benjamin, also practiced law and was an inventor. He held a patent for additional attachments for brooms. Miriam Benjamin passed away in 1947.

© BIOGRAPHS