by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

July 14, 2026

Revisiting 250 Years of Blackness in America

July 14 is significant in that it celebrates an innovator and a major moment in Black American history.

Sarah E. Goode

We can’t talk about Black women in STEM without mentioning Sarah E. Goode, who pioneered a path for Black women in industrial design, engineering, and creative entrepreneurship. Goode is the first African American woman to receive a United States patent, granted on July 14, 1885.

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

The Schomburg Center opens in Harlem, New York, on July 14, 1925. Arturo Schomburg’s collection of African American artifacts is acquired by and housed as part of the New York Public Library.

RELATED CONTENT: ON THIS DAY: 250 Years Of Black America