The History of Black Americans

In 1885, Sarah Good became the first Black woman to receive a US patent. A Good was born into slavery in 1850 and moved to Chicago after the Civil War. She invented a folding cabinet bed that would bring more urban residents with limited space into her shop. In 1938, Charles Richard Drew went to Columbia University to earn a doctor of medical science degree. While there he discovered a method of separating red cells from plasma which allowed blood to be stored for more than a week. The process is still used on transfusions today.