Born in Charleston, South Carolina on September 16, 1861, Benjamin was the oldest of five children, of Francis Benjamin and Eliza (Hopkins) Benjamin.
At the age of 12, she attended the Girl’s High School and graduated in 1881. After graduating, she accepted the position to become the Second Assistant at the Stanton Institute, Jacksonville, Florida. Benjamin was appointed by the Superintendent of Education for the County of Duval. Benjamin attended Howard University‘s medical school between 1894 and 1895.
Miriam Elizabeth Benjamin
Gong and Signal Chair
U.S. Patent number 386,289 Born September 16, 1861-Died 1947
On July 17, 1888, Miriam Elizabeth Benjamin became the second African American woman to receive a patent from the United States government for her invention of a gong and signal chair.
She designed a chair with a button to buzz the waiters’ station, and a light to show which guest needed help. The key feature of the chair was a notification system, which allowed the seated individual to press a button and alert an attendant when assistance was needed. By depressing the button, a gong or ring would sound at the same moment that a red signal or flag on the chair itself would be made visible.
Her brother Lyde Wilson Benjamin was a Boston attorney as well as an inventor; on May 16, 1893, he received U.S. patent no. 497,747 for an improvement on “Broom Moisteners and Bridles.”Her younger brother Edgar Pinkerton Benjamin graduated from the law school of Boston University and had a successful private practice in the city of Boston. Although best remembered for establishing the Resthaven Nursing Home (now the Benjamin Healthcare Center) in Roxbury, Massachusetts, he also held a U.S. Patent; on May 31, 1892, he was awarded U.S. patent no. 475,749 for a “Trousers-Shield,” or, a bicycle clip.
For most of her life she lived with her widowed mother in the Boston area. She had four siblings. Her sisters were Charlotte D. “Lottie” Benjamin and Eva S. Benjamin. Miriam Benjamin died in 1947, she never married.
Resources
Miriam E. Benjamin (1861-1947)
Miriam Benjamin, Inventor, and Teacher born
https://blackinventor.com/miriam-benjamin/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miriam_Benjaminhttps://erenow.net/biographies/wonder-women-25-innovators-inventors-trailblazers/25.php