Bessie Blount: An African American Inventor

Bessie Blount was an African American woman who led a life that was dedicated to helping those in need. She is considered by many to be a role model for all women and all African Americans because of her extraordinary dedication to her work.

Bessie Blount was born in Hickory, Virginia on November 24, 1914. Although not much is know about her youth, it is well known that her life long dream was to work in the medical field. Because of the racial divisions common during her time, Blount had a long road of challenges ahead of her to see her dream become a reality.

Blount decided to become a physical therapist. In order to do this, she had to move from her home in Virginia to New Jersey so she could study at the Panzar College of Physical Education. Once she completed her studies there, she attended Union Junior College to continue her studies. She then moved to Chicago in order to complete her goal of becoming a physical therapist.

By the time World War II ended, Blount was a practicing physical therapist. Many of her patients were amputees from the front lines. Blount taught the amputees how to use their feet instead of their hands to do some basic tasks. Eating, however, was almost impossible to do in this manner. Consequently, the men needed help to feed themselves which was discouraging for them. Blount saw this as an opportunity to try to invent something to help these men regain some
independence and lift their spirits.

In response to this need, Blount developed an electric feeding system that allowed the amputees to feed themselves at their own individual pace. The system delivered single bites of food to the person through a tube. When a person would bite down on the tube, another bite would come out of the tube. This tube was attached to a machine that would prepare each individual bite and send it up the tube. Patients could use this feeding system in any position, even laying down.

Blount also developed a more simple feeding system. In this system, a bowl or cup was supported by a brace that was attached to a neck brace. She came up with this idea while teaching and practicing physical therapy at the Bronx Hospital in New York.