Sarah Boone was a famous African American inventor who took an already great idea and made it better! She patented a device to help neatly iron clothing. This was the predecessor to the modern ironing board. It was made of a narrow wooden board, with collapsible legs and a padded cover.
Before Sarah's inventions, people simply used a table or were creative by lying a plank of wood across two chairs or small tables. U.S. Patent #473,653 was granted to her on April 26, 1892. She lived near New Haven, Connecticut at the time.
Sarah Boone's ironing board was designed to be effective in ironing the sleeves and bodies of ladies' garments. Very little is known about her life and her childhood. If you learn something interesting, please
email us and let us know. We are dying to learn about her early years.
BKFK is running 4 inventive and innovative thinking competitions where kids can win $10,000 each. The current competitions end March 31 and there is still time to enter. We're looking for inventive ideas for the environment, fashion, sports, and even comic books.
Learn more about our competitions here.
BKFK is dedicated to inspiring young people through our idea locker, our competitions, teacher lesson plans, and
stories of inspirational innovators who were once just regular kids. To register for updated curriculum,
click here.