The shoes you’re wearing today likely were made possible by an invention from the late 19th century. But the inventor of that machine, who had little to no formal education, didn’t really get to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

Research:

· “29c Jan E. Matzeliger single.” Smithsonian National Postal Museum. https://postalmuseum.si.edu/object/npm_1993.2015.160

· Biography.com Editors. “Jan Matzeliger Biography.” Biography.com. June 24, 2020. https://www.biography.com/inventors/jan-matzeliger

· Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Jan Ernst Matzeliger". Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Sep. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jan-Ernst-Matzeliger.

· “Brockton lasters Strike.” The Daily Item. August 8, 1887. https://www.newspapers.com/image/945617821/?match=1&terms=lasters%20strike

· Curry, Sheree R. “Jan Ernst Matzeliger Made Modern Footwear Accessible.” USA Today. Feb. 17, 2023. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2023/02/17/jan-ernst-matzeliger-black-shoe-inventor/11154017002/

· “Death of Earnest Matzeliger.” The Daily Item. Aug. 26, 1889. https://www.newspapers.com/image/945605665/?match=1&terms=Matzeliger

· “Jan Ernst Matzeliger.” National Inventors Hall of Fame. https://www.invent.org/inductees/jan-ernst-matzeliger

· “Jan Matzlieger ‘Lasting Machine.’” Massachusetts Institute of Technology. https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/jan-matzlieger

· Kaplan, Sydney. “JAN EARNST MATZELIGER AND THE MAKING OF THE SHOE.” Journal of Negro History. Volume 40, Number 1. January 1955. https://doi.org/10.2307/2715446

· Matzeliger, J.E. “Lasting Machine.” U.S. Patent Office. March 20, 1883. https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/0274207

· “Matzeliger’s Invention Changed the World.” The Daily Item. Aug. 10, 1999. https://www.newspapers.com/image/948726215/?match=1&terms=Matzeliger

· Morgan, Stuart. “The birth of the lasting machine.” Satra. https://www.satra.com/bulletin/article.php?id=2501

· Smeulders, V. (2017, May 31). Matzeliger, Jan Ernst. Oxford African American Studies Center. Retrieved 25 Nov. 2024, from https://oxfordaasc.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195301731.001.0001/acref-9780195301731-e-74508

· Thompson, Ross. “The Path to Mechanized Shoe Production in the United States.” University of North Carolina Press. 2001.

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Ethan Kho

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