Sarah Boone

Contribution: Dressmaker who made it easier to iron clothes.

Age: 72 (1832 - 1904)

Mini Bio:

Sarah Boone was a dressmaker at a time when women’s clothes had fancy long sleeves and long, full skirts. Ironing fabric was very important in her work, and the ironing boards she used did not work as well as she wanted – especially when it came to ironing long sleeves. Sarah created a special ironing board that was narrow and curved so that a sleeve could be fitted over it. She received a patent for her ironing board in 1892. 

• Sarah Boone was born near New Bern in North Carolina. 
• Her name was Sarah Marshall before she married James Boone, a brick mason. 
• Sarah and James moved their family to New Haven in Connecticut before the Civil War began in 1861. They had eight children. 
• James died in 1874, a long time before Sarah did. She lived until 1904. 
• During Sarah’s time, people used heavy irons that were heated on the stove. Electric irons were patented in 1880 but were not used very much until the 1900s.

Further Reading:

• Wikipedia
• Biography
• African American Registry