She was a friend of Thomas Edison's son Theodore, a champion of assistive technologies, and one of the 20th Century's great African American inventors. Bessie Blount was born in Virginia in 1914.
She was not initially recognized in the United States for her inventions but was recognized nationally in France and the United Kingdom. She was trained as a physical therapist. She worked with injured soldiers who had lost limbs during WWII and was inspired to invent an electronic feeding tube. It delivered food through a feeding tube which was controlled by biting on the tube. She also invented a portable receptacle holder that could be worn around a patient's neck.
The American Veterans Administration was not interested in her invention so Bessie Blunt Griffin sold it to the French government. The second invention did receive a U.S. patent in 1951 (Patent Number 2,550,554). She and Theodore Edison became close friends and while in his home she invented the disposable cardboard emesis basin. This invention was also not accepted by the American Veterans Administration, so she sold it to Belgium.
She was a serial inventor, a passionate caregiver to injured soldiers, and a great woman. To learn more about Famous Black Inventors,
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