African American inventor, Joseph Lee (1849 – 1905) invented new and useful improvements to the dough-kneading machine (U.S. patent #524,042 8/7/1894). His machine was intended for use in large houses or hotels. Lee also patented a machine for making bread crumbs (U.S. patent #540,553 6/4/1895).
Joseph Lee grew up in the food service industry. He worked as a baker, cook, waiter, and hotel manager, to eventually become the owner of two restaurants and his own catering service called the Lee Catering Company. He sold the patent for his bread crumbling machine to the Royal Worcester Bread Crumb Company of Boston.
Alice H. Parker, an African-American woman from Morristown, NJ invented the Gas Heating Furnace that provided central heating on December 23rd 1919. Parker created a mechanism that regulated the heat, and homes to live with Central heat; this invention made it possible for heat to be carried throughout various rooms by just a click of an on/off button. This invention had everyone spending money to buy central heat for their homes. Central heat changed the world drastically; people did not have to cut down trees for their fireplaces. It was also extremely dangerous leaving the fireplace on overnight, so people were forced to put out the fireplace during the night. Families usually went to bed warm, but cold during the night. Thankfully Parkers central heating system helped millions of people stay warm during the night, and they were also able to control how hot they wanted a specific room to suit. So remember when it is only 10 degrees outside, and you are nice and warm in your home, think about Parker. She made it possible for everyone in several rooms to enjoy the heat on cold winter nights.
***Information courtesyof About.com, Boston Urban News***
