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Inventors & Scientists

Jan Ernst Matzeliger

1852 – 1889

Paramaribo, Suriname (Dutch Guiana) and Lynn, Massachusetts, United States

Surinamese-born inventor who settled in Lynn, Massachusetts, and in 1883 patented a lasting machine that mechanised attaching shoe uppers to soles, sharply raising output and lowering shoe prices.

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Shoe factory in Lynn, Massachusetts, photographed in 1895, the industry Matzeliger's lasting machine transformed
Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. License: Public domain (LOC: no known restrictions; 1895).

Content pending: verified research needed.

Sources

  1. Lemelson-MIT Program, "Jan Matzeliger" (Primary source)
  2. Mass Humanities, Mass Moments, "Matzeliger Demonstrates Revolutionary Machine" (May 29, 1885) (Reference)
  3. John H. Lienhard / University of Houston, The Engines of Our Ingenuity, Episode 1785 (Scholarly)
  4. BlackPast, "Jan E. Matzeliger (1852-1887)" (Reference)

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