Born in Raleigh, North Carolina; later dubbed 'Lady Edison' for her prolific inventing career spanning decades.
Beulah Louise Henry was born on September 28, 1887, in Raleigh, North Carolina, into a well-established Southern family with connections to prominent historical figures, including a claimed descent from Patrick Henry. From an early age she displayed an unusual gift for visualizing mechanical solutions to everyday problems, a talent that would eventually make her one of the most prolific woman inventors of the twentieth century.
Henry received a solid education, attending Elizabeth College in Charlotte, North Carolina, and later Handerson College, though she never pursued formal engineering or technical training — a fact that made her later achievements all the more remarkable in an era when women were largely excluded from technical professions. She claimed to visualize her inventions completely in her mind before ever sketching or building them, relying on hired draftsmen and model-makers to translate her mental designs into working prototypes and patent drawings.
Her birth in the post-Reconstruction South placed her in a society with limited opportunities for women in business or invention. Despite this, Henry would go on to secure 49 U.S. patents and be credited with around 110 inventions across categories as diverse as household goods, toys, office equipment, and sewing technology. Her life's work earned her the nickname 'Lady Edison' and posthumous induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006.
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