Mary Anderson: the inventor who may not have heard of

March is Women’s History Month and today is International Women’s History Day. It all started with the first International Women’s Day in 1911. In 1978, a Sonoma, California school district participated in Women’s History Week which would led to President Jimmy Carter issuing a presidential proclamation that the week of March 8, 1980 would be National Women’s History. In 1987, National Women’s History Project petitioned March as Women’s History Month and since 1995, March has been set aside for celebrating women’s contribution to history and to our society. I’ve chosen to highlight a woman who has had a great impact on our lives.

Mary Anderson, a woman who many people don’t know her name but we use her invention every time it rains. Mary invented the windshield wipers. Mary was born in Greene County, Alabama at the start of the Reconstruction in 1866. During a visit to New York City in winter 1902, she noticed a man driving a trolley with both panes of the windshield open due to the poor visibility in the snow. When she returned home, she designed a hand operated device to keep the windshield clear. She applied for and received a 17 year patent for the windshield wiper in 1903. The device had a lever inside the vehicle that controlled a rubber blade on the outside of the windshield. When the lever was operated, a spring loaded arm helped move the blade back and forth. A counterweight was used to ensure contact between the wiper and the window. Her device was the first to be effective. Despite this accomplishment, Ms. Anderson was told that her invention would have no commercial value and she let the patent run out. However, by 1922, the windshield wiper would become standard equipment on all cars.

I thought Mrs. Anderson’s story was so great that it needs to be retold and remembered. From an age when women were still fighting for the right to vote, she was able to take an idea and find a way to create a tool that we still use today. I was sad to learn that she was never able to successfully market her invention. One historian theorized it was because her invention predated the Model T and cars were not yet popular. Whatever the reason and even though she wouldn’t get credit for her invention in her lifetime, I hope she realized that she made a great contribution to the lives of future generations. Her story is another example of how a simple idea can change how we live our everyday lives and even the smallest contribution can have the greatest impact.

Elijah McCoy and Dr. Percy Julian

                

Elijah McCoy was born on May 2, 1844 in Colchester, Ontario, Canada. His parents were fugitive slaves who escaped in Canada from Kentucky via the Underground Railroad. When he was three years, his family would return to the United States and settle in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He would begin his career as a fireman and oiler at the Michigan Central Railroad. In his home-based machine shop, he would invent an automatic lubricator for oiling a steam engines of locomotives and ships. The lubricator would have trains and ships run moved effectively and efficiently. He would continue to refine his design as well as design new devices. He was recognized by Booker T. Washington’s Story of a Negro (1909) as having the most patents than any other black inventor at the time. Many of his inventions dealt with lubrication but few did not. For instance, the folding ironing board and the lawn sprinkler. He died on October 10, 1929 at the age of 86. He left a legacy of great inventions in which we still use today. The phrase “The Real McCoy” has been attributed to him. The story is that some train engineers would refer to his invention of the oil-drip cup as the Real McCoy System, not wanting to waste time with inferior devices. Although there are other possibilities to the origins of this phrase, I think I like the Elijah McCoy story better.

                Dr. Percy Lavon Julian was a U.S. research chemist and pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants. He was also a pioneer in the industrial large-scale chemical synthesis of human hormones, such as steroids, progesterone and testosterone. His work laid the foundation for cortisone, other corticosteroids and birth control pills. He would receive more than 130 chemical patents and he was the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. in chemistry and the first African-American chemist to be inducted into the National Academy of Sciences.

                Percy Julian was born in Montgomery, Alabama on April 11, 1899 and grew up during the racist times of the Jim Crow laws. His parents would encourage him and his siblings to pursue an education higher than an 8^th grade which was uncommon during this time. He would attend DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana where he would graduate in 1920 Phi Beta Kappa and valedictorian. He would earn his Ph.D. in 1931 at the University of Vienna. In Europe, he would enjoy freedom from the racial prejudices so common in the United States.  When he returned to the United States, most of this work would be done with Glidden. He died on April 19, 1975 at the age of 76 from liver cancer. 

all information was received from www.biography.com