William Henry Richardson
He invented the first reversible baby carriage. The buggy was designed with a joint in the centre that allowed for the bassinet to face towards the person pushing.
1868
Chaplin, Connecticut, USA
African American and Irish
1889-1990
He invented the first reversible baby carriage, the design of the buggy had the joint in the centre which allowed the bassinet to face the person pushing the buggy. He invented it so that the bassinet could face the opposite way as well. He also fixed the axles on the wheels so that it is more mobile. His new invention with the wheels allowed it to move into smaller spaces with less trouble. Thanks to Richardson, baby carriages and strollers were made more affordable and gave middle class families the ability to buy them during the 1900s.
He was born in Mt. Pleasant Township, this County, February 13, 1868, a son of John Strong and Caroline (Butterworth) Richardson, natives of Ireland and New York, respectively. The latter was a daughter of Henry Butterworth, who was born in Manchester, England, and became a resident of Racine County in. the early ’40s, casting in his lot with its first settlers who laid broad and deep the foundation upon which has been built the later progress and prosperity of the district. It was in the ’60s that John Strong Richardson arrived in Racine County, where he followed the blacksmith’s trade, which he had previously learned in England. W. H. Richardson acquired a public school education and a business college training which further qualified him for life’s practical and responsible duties. On the 25th of June, 1896.
W. H. Richardson, president of the Racine Carriage Company, is one whose long experience in this line of trade well qualified him for the important position which he now occupies as executive official, directing the policy and shaping the course of the business. One of the elements of his success is the fact that he has always continued in the line in which he embarked as a young tradesman, never dissipating his energies over a broad field but concentrating on the mastery of every task that has devolved upon him and thus gaining a most comprehensive and exact knowledge of the work in all of its phases.
Image 1- https://afamwilsonnc.com/2018/09/20/studio-shots-no-91-william-h-richardson/
https://blackthen.com/did-you-know-a-black-man-invented-the-reversible-baby-carriage/
https://samepassage.org/william-h-richardson/
https://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/object-of-the-month/baby-carriage/#:~:text=However%2C%20in%201889%20the%20African,turned%20to%20face%20the%20operator.
https://accessgenealogy.com/wisconsin/biography-of-william-henry-richardson.htm
