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Miriam E. Benjamin (September 16, 1861 – 1947) was an African-American school teacher and inventor from Washington, D.C. On July 17, 1888 she obtained a patent for her invention, the Gong and Signal Chair for Hotels. The chair would "reduce the expenses of hotels by decreasing the number of waiters and attendants, to add to the convenience and comfort of guests and to obviate the necessity of hand clapping or calling aloud to obtain the services of pages." The chair worked when the person sitting would press a small button on the back of the chair which would then send a signal to a waiting attendant. A light would illuminate as well, allowing the attendant to see which guest needed help. The system was eventually adopted by the United States House of Representatives and was a precursor to the signaling system used on airplanes for passengers to seek assistance from flight attendants. ==Life and career== Miriam Elizabeth Benjamin was born, a free woman of color, in Charleston, South Carolina in 1861,〔Daniel Smith Lamb: ''A Historical, Biographical and Statistical Souvenir of Howard University Medical Department'' (Washington, D.C., 1900), 235〕 the eldest of five children of Francis Benjamin and Eliza (Hopkins) Benjamin.〔Although she would consistently cite 1868 as her birthdate, census records of her youth state 1861. 1870 Federal Census for 2nd Ward of the city of Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, page 117, lines 17–25〕 In 1873, the Benjamin family moved to Boston, Massachusetts,〔1880 Federal Census for Suffolk County (Massachusetts) Enumeration District 703, Sheet 14, Lines 42–45 (10 Dover Street, Boston, Mass. (Precinct of the 16th Ward ))〕 where she attended high school. She moved to Washington, D.C. where she was a schoolteacher in the segregated municipal school system. In 1888, she was living at 1736 New York Avenue, N.W. in Washington.〔''Boyd's Directory of the District of Columbia''(Washington, 1888), 208〕 Miriam Benjamin briefly attended Howard University's medical school,〔Lamb, 235〕 but after passing a competitive civil service examination and working as a government clerk in a number of federal departments,〔''Boyd's Directory of the District of Columbia (Washington, 1891), 212〕 she enrolled in the law school of Howard University; upon graduation, she set herself up in business as a "solicitor of patents." In 1920, she returned to Boston, where she lived and worked with her brother, Boston attorney Edgar P. Benjamin.〔1930 Federal Census for Suffolk County Enumeration District 13-319, Sheet 15-A, Lines 24–26 (50 Fernwood Road, Boston, Mass.)〕 She died in 1947.〔Massachusetts Deaths for 1947 6:63; Department of Public Health, Registry of Vital Records and Statistics. Massachusetts Vital Records Index to Deaths (). Volumes 66–145. Facsimile edition. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Miriam Benjamin」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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