Women Inventors | Graphic by Dylan Collison | The Wright State Guardian
March is globally recognized as Women’s History Month, a month-long celebration of female-identifying persons, activists, inventors, artists, and other pioneers. Here are a few female inventors and pioneers who helped shape the modern world as we know it.
Marie Van Brittan
Personal home security systems have been all the rage with the advancement of technology, and now people can watch their beloved possessions on their smartphones. None of which would have been possible without the work of African American Inventor Marie Van Brittan.
Brittan was born and raised in New York City in the 1920s, and while her formal education is not widely known, her intelligence precedes her.
Brittan was a nurse who worked late nights and worried about her and her family’s safety. To remedy this issue, she invented a home security system that was patented in 1969 and laid the foundation for CCTV security and other home security systems.
Olga D. González- Sanabria
Originally born in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, Sanabria spent most of her life on the island before moving to Ohio to finish her education. She received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in science and chemical engineering.
Sanabria holds the U.S. patent for a special alkaline battery that is used in space research and space vehicles.
Sanabria currently is the Director of Engineering at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH.
Sarah E.Goode
Another Ohioan, Goode is thought to be one of the first African American women to receive a U.S. patent in 1885. She received her patent for a folding cabinet chair. She was known to have worked on other folding furniture, such as the folding bed.
Not much is known about Goode’s personal life, education, or family due to lack of records during that time period. It is known that she was born in Ohio and moved to Illinois and opened a furniture shop with her husband Archibald Goode.
Sources
The United States Patent and Trademark Office
