Bessie Blount

Biography

Bessie Blount.
1914-2009
Born in 1914 in hickory, Virginia, Bessie Blount was an African American inventor and forensic scientist. She went to two schools in New Jersey and then to Chicago, to finish up her schooling to become a physical therapist.
She had the opportunity in life to work with disabled WW2 amputees while living in New Jersey, and she also taught physical therapy in Bronx New York.
Tired of how helpless the injured military personnel were, she is responsible for creating a device that the amputee uses, for self-feeding, whether the patient was sitting up or lying down. The patient bit down on the tube to signal the machine to send food through the tube. This was eventually donated to France.

In 1951, she patented a simplier device called a "portable receptacle support", which was used for the same purpose.
Because of the lack of interest from the American Veteran's Administration, she had to sign her rights of her inventions over to the French government, for them to say that "a black woman has the ability to create inventions for the good of mankind".

She is also the inventor of the "disposable cardboard emesis basin", which are now currently used all over the country of Belgium.

In 1969, she began her career in forensic science and law enforcement in the states of Virginia and New Jersey and, in 1972, became the chief document examiner for their laboratories.

Still running her own business at the age of 83, she began working on examing and researching the authenticity of African American slave paperwork, and pre civil war documents.

In 2007, she was inducted into New Jersey's Cumberland County black hall of fame. She also received the state Joint Legislation Commendation award. She passed away December of 2009.