Sarah-Boone" (February 1832-1904)

Was an African American inventor who on April 26,1892 obtained United

States patent rights for her improvements to the ironing board.Sarah's ironing board was designed to improve the quality of ironing sleeves and the bodies of women's garments.The board was very narrow,curved,and made of wood.The shape and structure allowed it to fit a sleeve and it was reversible,so one could iron both sides of the sleeve.

She was born in Craven County,North Carolina near the town of New Bern in February 1832.On November 25,1847,in New Bern,she married a freedman named James Boone (or Boon),they would have eight children.

They Boone family left North Carolina for New Haven Connecticut before the outbreak of the American Civil War;they settled into a house at 30 Winter Street.James worked as a brick mason until his death in 1874 while his Sarah was listed in New Haven directories as a dressmaker.

She is buried in a family plot in Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven.