Bessie Blount was a physical therapist who worked with soldiers injured in W.W.II. Her war service inspired her to make a device, in 1951 that allowed amputees to feed themselves. The electrical device allowed the tube to deliver a mouthful of food to the patient whenever he or she bit down on the tube. She later invented a portable receptacle support that was a similar and smaller version of her first invention. It was designed to be worn around the neck of the patient.
Bessie Blount was born in Virginia in 1914. She moved from Virginia to New York where she studied to be a physical therapist at the Panzer College of Physical Education and at Union Junior College, and later furthered her training as a physical therapist in Chicago. In 1951, Bessie Blount started teaching Physical Therapy at the Bronx Hospital in New York. She was unable to get help to publish her invention in the United States so she gave the patent rights to the French government. Though she wasn't able to sell it in the U.S i think this invention helped many people in France especially after the war. I think this was like a blessing for those who broke their backs because then this invention would help them to still maintain some of their independence.
The French government put the patent to good use for many war victims to come.
“A black women can invent something for the benefit of humankind”---a quote by Bessie Blount.
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