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ALWAYS TINKERINGAs a young girl, I liked to tinker with my toys. I pulled them apart to see if something could be added or changed. At times, my parents scolded me for ‘damaging’ them, but I was experimenting with new ideas and possibilities.By 1912, at the age of 25, I had learned that if my intuitive tinkering was to be more than a hobby and produce an income, my ideas needed protection. So I patented my vacuum ice cream freezer machine, and it was an instant success. Lots more successful inventions followed.<div style="text-align: left;"><img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2Fab4d36e235774f7ab67d5c6a81a289e9" alt="" style="width: 444.035px; height: 304.562px;"></div> <o:p></o:p>In 1924, Scientific American reviewed my work, calling me an ‘Outstanding Inventor’. People asked how I did it. ‘I am utterly ignorant of mechanics,’ I said, but I could explain to others how things would work. They could then develop the idea and make it happen. <o:p></o:p>INVENTIONS FROM IDEAS<o:p></o:p>I thought back to my imaginative childhood toys and in 1925, I invented a doll with arms that moved with ease. But I didn’t stop there! I wanted to make a doll that was more lifelike, so I placed a radio inside the doll’s body and tinkered with eyes that could close and even change colour. <o:p></o:p>In 1929, I formed the B.L. Henry Company of New York and made myself president of it. It was a case of learning by doing, and it was exciting to make a business out of my inventions. I learned about how to sell and how to manage money, and a lot about people and trust. Other companies came to see me, recognising my ‘eye for innovation’ and I began to design a number of products for them. <o:p></o:p><img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2Fb80b5518da424741bb31b0eba670b7ea" alt="" style="width: 260.008px; height: 355.344px;"> LADY EDISONPeople asked if I would marry but I felt that if I put my energies into a relationship and family, I would lose my focus on business. I felt I couldn’t do both and I was fine with that decision. Sometimes you have to make the right decision for yourself rather than worry about what everyone else is doing.<o:p></o:p>My motto was, ‘I invent because I cannot help myself.’ I was pleased that my practical inventions not only brought smiles to children’s faces, but also helped solve problems in daily life. I was proud to show the world that women can be successful. But I wasn’t just about work. In my spare time I wrote, painted and did charity work on behalf of animals. It was another way to express my creativity.<img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2F529b087743284182aa7aaf9adb77bdcd" alt="" style="width: 253.341px; height: 327.562px;"> <o:p></o:p>I was so busy inventing that the Patent Office actually gave me the nickname, ‘Lady Edison’. I was quite surprised and pleased to be associated with one of the greatest inventors that ever lived.<o:p></o:p>GLOSSARY<o:p></o:p>Intuitive – the ability to know something without having proof.<o:p></o:p>Patent – a document that gives the inventor of something the right to be the only one to make or sell the invention for a certain number of years.<o:p></o:p>Mechanics – the design, construction or operation of machines or tools.<o:p></o:p>LEGACY AND RECOGNITION<ul><li>Beulah Henry was awarded 49 patents and credited with 110 inventions in total, making her one of the most successful inventors of her time.</li><li>She established two companies of her own, where she worked on inventions, and also served as a consultant to several companies that designed new products.</li><li>As well as receiving credit for her work during her lifetime, Beulah Henry was one of the few female inventors of that period who was able to make money from her inventions.</li><li>She was a descendant of Patrick Henry, one of America’s Founding Fathers.</li><li>She was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006.</li><li>It’s believed that Beulah Henry had synaesthesia, a condition where the mind connects one sense to another sense. For instance, experiencing colours as sounds or seeing certain numbers in different colours.</li></ul>IMAGE CAPTIONS AND CREDITSPatent Drawings Ice Cream Freezer US 1,037,762 (1911) <o:p></o:p>Beulah Henry with Linotype Machine, 1928, Popular Mechanics via oz. Typewriter, blogspot.com<o:p></o:p>Beulah Henry with air baby doll, Harris &amp; Ewing, photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons&nbsp;

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