"Sarah E.Goode"(1855-April 8,1905)

Was an entrepreneur and inventor.Sarah was the very first African American woman to receive a U.S. patent.She was born Sarah Elizabeth Jacobs in 1855 in Toledo

Ohio,Sarah would sometimes say she was born in Spain.She was the second of seven children of Oliver and Harriet Jacobs,both described in public records as mulatto's.Oliver,a native of Indiana was a carpenter.When the Civil War ended the family moved to Chicago,where she met and married Archibald "Archie"Goode,who was originally from Wise County,Virginia;they would have six children,all of whom would live to adulthood.Archie would described himself in the records as as a "stair builder"and as an upholsterer;Sarah opened a furniture store.The idea for invention came out of necessity of the times.Most people she knew lived in small homes or studios and these residents had a minimum amount of habitable space.Many of her customers complained of not having enough money to store things much less to add furniture.Sarah invented a folding cabinet bed which provided people who lived in small spaces to utilize their space efficiently.When the bed was folded,up it looked like a desk.The desk was fully functional,with spaces for storage.She received a patent for it on July,1885.She died in Chicago and buried in Graceland Cementary.