When we press the button above our head on a plane to call for a flight attendant, we rarely think about the origins of this simple mechanism. Yet its story begins in the late 19th century and is connected with an extraordinary woman who broke racial and professional barriers in segregated America.
From Charleston to Washington
Miriam Elizabeth Benjamin was born in September 1861 in Charleston, South Carolina, as the eldest of five children. This was the year the Civil War broke out, and her hometown became a symbol of the conflict between the North and the South.
A decade later, her mother Eliza moved the children to Boston, where young Miriam graduated from a prestigious girls’ high school in 1881. The family’s social ascent was possible thanks to her mother’s determination, though only scant information about her father Francis survives in archival documents.
After completing her education, Benjamin did not rest on her laurels. She took a position as assistant principal at the Stanton Institute in Florida, where she was appointed by the state superintendent of education.
This job paved the way for her career in education, which she later continued at public schools in Washington, D.C. At that time, the nation’s capital attracted educated African Americans with opportunities for federal employment.
The Gong Chair
On July 17, 1888, Benjamin became only the second African American woman to receive a patent from the United States government. Her invention, called the „gong and signal chair,” solved a simple but irritating problem. In hotels, theaters, and restaurants, guests had to wave their arms or shout to attract a waiter’s attention. Benjamin’s solution was simple: pressing a button would trigger the sound of a gong and simultaneously raise a red flag beside the chair.
The inventor saw broader applications for her idea. She lobbied for its use in the House of Representatives, where members could summon attendants without interrupting proceedings.
Although Congress ultimately chose a different system, Benjamin’s name entered the official parliamentary records thanks to Congressman George Washington Murray of South Carolina. A prototype of the chair was exhibited at the Atlanta Exposition in 1895 as an example of African American entrepreneurship.
A Woman of Many Talents
Her 1888 patent was not the end of Benjamin’s inventive career. Almost thirty years later, in 1917, she patented a method for delivering medicine through inserts placed inside shoes.
This idea was ahead of its time, concerning transdermal delivery of medicinal substances. Between these two patents, Benjamin studied medicine at Howard University and passed the civil service exam, which opened the way for her to work in federal departments.
Her experience with patent documentation led her in a new direction. According to historians, Benjamin became one of the first African American women patent agents. Her name appeared on a list of Black inventors compiled at the turn of the 20th century by Henry Baker, a patent examiner and civil rights activist.
She eventually returned to Boston, where she lived with her mother and her brother Edgar, a successful lawyer. She died in 1947, never having married, but left a lasting mark on the history of American innovation.
Margot Cleverly
Margot's journey into women's history began with a box of forgotten letters in a Cambridge archive – suffragettes whose voices had been silenced for over a century. Since then, she's been on a mission to uncover the stories history overlooked.
What she writes about: Queens who ruled from the shadows. Scientists whose male colleagues took credit. Revolutionaries who risked everything. But also ordinary women – those who survived wars, raised families through upheaval, and shaped their communities in ways no one bothered to record.
Margot turns historical figures into real people. She writes with warmth and detail, making centuries-old stories feel surprisingly relevant. Rigorous research meets accessible storytelling – no dusty academic jargon, just compelling narratives backed by solid facts.
When she's not writing, you'll find her in regional archives, collecting oral histories, or visiting sites connected to the women she writes about.