Here at Abel + Imray, we are celebrating Black History Month by focusing on a few of the many black inventors that have gone on to create things that have changed our world for the better, highlighting the fantastic contributions they have made to society, often in difficult circumstances.
So often, their contributions have either been ignored or just forgotten. We hope that in highlighting these inventors and their achievements, we can inspire the next generation to do something that will also change the world for the better.
- Marie Van Brittan Brown is best known for having invented the first home security system. Marie was a nurse and worked shifts, as did her husband. As a result, she spent many nights at home alone in Queens, New York, where the crime rate was very high. Due to slow police response times, Marie set about creating the first home security system. She started by creating three peepholes in her front door, accessible to all members of her family (who were all different heights). After this, she put in place a camera capable of adjusting between peepholes, enabling people inside the house to see who was at the door. Marie also wanted a way for her family to view who was outside the house from any room. She came up with the idea of using a wireless television system. She used a radio-controlled wireless system that streamed the video to any TV in the house. Alongside the video array, Marie and her husband created a two-way microphone system to allow communication between those inside the house and a person at the door. Marie and her husband submitted a patent application on 1 August 1966. It would be the first patent of its kind, as her husband's name was below hers. The patent was granted on December 2, 1969. The New York Times ran an article about her invention in the very week that it was granted.
- Patricia Bath invented a form of cataract surgery that relies on photoablation. She took the next step beyond existing laser-based cataract removal devices, designing a device now known as the “laserphaco” probe. This device uses a laser to quickly and almost painlessly dissolve cataracts, while also irrigating and cleaning the eye, which helps with easy insertion of a new lens. Patricia’s invention is used around the world to treat cataracts. Patricia’s invention was patented in 1988 and she was the first African-American woman to receive a patent for a medical purpose. She has continued to improve her invention and has successfully restored the vision of people who had previously been unable to see for decades.
- Thomas L. Jennings was the very first African-American patent holder. His method of dry cleaning was patented in 1821. Thomas was a tailor and had a large customer base of people, who came to him for altered or custom tailored clothing, because he was highly skilled. Thomas was so popular that he opened his own store, which became one of the largest clothing stores in New York City. While he was a tailor, he developed his dry cleaning process which was called “dry-scouring.” However, his customers complained when their clothes were ruined by stains. As a result, Thomas started experimenting with different chemicals that could remove stains, but also protect the fabric at the same time. He became quite wealthy through the profits of his invention and spent a lot of the proceeds on abolitionist activities.
- Jan Matzeliger was granted a patent in 1883 for an automated shoe laster. Shoes were mainly made by hand before Jan’s invention, meaning the feet of a given customer had to be duplicated in size and form, before a mould was created out of stone or wood, called a “last.” Shoes were sized and shaped from the last. Considerable skill was required to tack and sew the sole of a shoe to a shoe upper. Some shoe lasters could produce roughly 50 pairs in a 10-hour day by hand; once Jan had invented the automated shoe laster, his machine could produce between 150 and 700 pairs of shoes in a day, which cut shoe prices in half.
