Estevanico, a Negro from Morocco, was one of a party of four to cross the North America continent in 1536 for the first time. The journey took nine years. In 1539 he headed an expedition that discovered Arizona and New Mexico. Estevanico's travels served to open up the Southwest and the States West of Florida, as far as the Pacific.
Jan Ernest Matzeliger, a Dutch West Indian Negro living in Lynn, Mass., invented the first machine for sewing the soles of shoes to the uppers. This invention which was eleven years in the making, revolutionized the industry and gave shoe supremacy to the United States. It made several millionaires, one of whom left $ 4,000,000 to Harvard University. Overwork and privation hastened Matzeliger to his grave in 1889 at the age of 37. He left a few shares of stock to a white church, which later saved it from being sold for debt.
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