Ellen Eliza Fitz facts for kids
Ellen Eliza Fitz was an American inventor. She is famous for creating a special way to mount a globe, which became known as the Fitz globe.
Early Life
Ellen Eliza Fitz was born in 1835. Her hometown was Kingston, New Hampshire. She grew up in Lynnfield and Newton, Massachusetts. Ellen went to West Newton State Normal school. After graduating, she worked as a music teacher in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Later, she lived in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. There, she worked as an American governess for many years.
The Amazing Fitz Globe
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Ellen Fitz invented a unique way to mount a globe. It was an educational tool for students. It helped them see how the Earth spins each day. It also showed how it travels around the sun each year.
The Fitz globe was a regular globe of the Earth. It had a pointer on top for the hour. Two parallel brass bands circled the globe. These bands showed where it was daytime and twilight. The globe sat on a special turntable base. This base had a calendar engraved on it.
This clever globe showed many things. It demonstrated how daylight, twilight, and seasons change. You could see these changes all over the world. It also showed them throughout the year. To help students learn about physical geography, it included more details. White lines showed ocean currents. Blue lines showed average temperatures in January. Red lines showed average temperatures in July. Ellen Fitz received a patent for this globe in 1875. This meant her invention was officially protected.
A company called Ginn & Heath produced the mounted globe. They published school and college textbooks. The Fitz globe was shown at a big event. This was the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876.
Along with the globe, Ellen Fitz wrote a book. It was called "Handbook of the Terrestrial Globe or Guide to Fitz’s New Method of Mounting and Operating Globes." This book explained her special mounting system. It also promoted its use for education. The book was very popular. It was printed four times. The first edition came out in 1876. More editions followed in 1878, 1880, and 1888.
A review of the book in 1876 said it was "impossible to speak too favorably" of it. Publisher's Weekly also noted something important. They said the globe was "likely to revolutionize the popular notion that woman has no inventive genius." This showed how important her invention was.
Ellen Fitz also designed a second globe. This one helped people understand where stars are located. She received a patent for this star globe in 1882.
Later Years
Ellen Eliza Fitz passed away on October 12, 1886. She was in Watertown, Massachusetts.
