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Patent holder profile

William A. Deitz and the Shoe Patent

Deitz enters the Reconstruction-era sequence through an Albany shoe patent, with the spelling variant preserved instead of hidden.

Why this belongs on CultureUp

Deitz is a public-record memory story.

Deitz belongs here as a Black American public-record patent memory profile rooted in Albany, footwear technology, and source-name discipline.

Unique holder rank 6 / grant rank 8Status: source_reviewedSource grade: A-

Patent: 64205: Improvement in Shoes
Issue date: 1867-04-30
Place: Albany, New York
Record strength: A- patent-record strength with a name-variant caveat between Baker's W.A. Dietz and patent text William A. Deitz.
Identity evidence: Publishable with spelling caveat; fuller biography remains open.
Why this record matters: The record moves the archive into Reconstruction-era clothing and footwear technology while showing why spelling variants matter.

What the public record supports

U.S. Patent No. 64205 for an improvement in shoes, issued April 30, 1867.
Patent text gives William A. Deitz of Albany, New York.
Baker/Murray recovery context preserves the W.A. Dietz spelling variant.

What remains open

The public biography remains thin.
Spelling and identity trail need more local source support.

Article profile

Read the person, place, invention, and record separately.

CultureUp keeps each layer visible so a patent record does not get stretched into claims the source trail cannot support.

The patent record

The patent text identifies William A. Deitz of Albany, New York, and an improvement in women's laced or buttoned boots issued April 30, 1867.

The person in the record

The profile is patent-first. The public identity trail should be expanded before adding a fuller biography.

Place attached to the claim

Albany anchors this record and later helps connect several profiles in the New York patent-memory cluster.

The invention

The invention sits in shoes and clothing technology, showing that technical memory includes practical improvements to everyday wear.

Business, labor, and use

The patent does not prove manufacturing scale, business ownership, customers, or commercial return.

What the record cannot prove

The patent cannot prove complete biography, private family record, lineage, or all labor behind the invention.

Patent records

Grant trail

Grant rank and unique-holder rank are shown separately so repeat patentees do not distort the chronological sequence.

Grant rank 8Holder rank 6utility patentmedium high

64205: Improvement in Shoes

William A. Deitz / W.A. Dietz / 1867-04-30

Name variant is preserved: Baker/Murray context uses Dietz, while patent text uses Deitz.

Residence: Albany, New York
Category: shoes / clothing technology
Source status: medium high
Primary sources: 2 mapped

Source trail

Claims stay tied to source limits.

Patent record

Patent text, case-file context, or patent-image trails that can support inventor, title, number, date, place, and claim language.

patent text mirrorpatent text with name-variant caveat

US64205A - Improvement in Shoes

Google Patents / 1867 patent record

Supports: Shows William A. Deitz of Albany, New York, connected to an improvement in women's laced or buttoned boots, issued April 30, 1867.
Limit: Baker/Murray list context uses W.A. Dietz, while the patent text uses William A. Deitz. Preserve both spellings until a stronger identity trail is attached.
Last checked: 2026-06-09
Source URL: https://patents.google.com/patent/US64205A/en

Identity evidence

Institutional profiles, Baker/Murray recovery context, or public source trails that support careful Black patentee language without private proof.

official historical essayrecovery-project context

Found on Baker's list

United States Patent and Trademark Office / 2022

Supports: Connects Henry E. Baker's recovery project, George Washington Murray's Congressional Record list, and the problem that the Patent Office did not and still does not collect demographic data.
Limit: Baker's list is a recovery starting point, not a complete census of Black inventors.
Last checked: 2026-06-08
Source URL: https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/journeys-innovation/historical-stories/found-bakers-list