While you might not think about who was behind some of the technology taken for granted daily, it might surprise you to know how many come from black women. Throughout history, black women have inspired or invented more things than you know. Here are only 10 of them.
Ten inventions by black women
1. The Laserphoco Probe
Dr. Patricia Bath hit several milestones in her medical career. The opthalmologist was the first black female physician to receive a medical patent and was the first black woman to finish a residency in ophthalmology at New York University.
She created the Laserphaco probe, which is a device that uses a small laser to remove cataracts from the eye. This invention revolutionized cataract surgery and it led to Dr. Bath’s posthumous induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2021.
2. The Home Security System
Living in a high-crime neighborhood in 1966, Marie Van Brittan Brown was looking for a way to be safe. That’s when she invented a security system that would give her a view of her front door. The system had a sliding camera, two-way microphones, television monitors, and four peepholes.
Using the peepholes, the camera would capture images of people outside her door while the microphone allowed her to communicate with them. According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, this was the first time that a closed-circuit television was used in a security system.
3. The Illusion Transmitter
Valerie Thomas was a physicist who was only one of two women in her class at Morgan State University. After leaving university, she started working at NASA as a data and mathematical analyst.
While managing the development of image-processing systems for the ‘Landsat’ satellite, she saw a light illusion in 1976 and that inspired her to invent the illusion transmitter. This transmitter uses concave mirrors to project images onto a display. The technology that went into the illusion transmitter was not only used by NASA but it paved the way for the 3-D movie technology that’s common today.
4. Fiber Optic Cables
Dr. Shirley Jackson was the first black woman to earn a doctorate in particle physics. As such, several of her inventions act as the foundation on which many modern technologies are built.
Starting her career at Bell Telephone (now AT&T), Dr. Jackson helped to invent touch-tone dialing and call waiting. However, her most striking invention is fiber-optic cables, which form the basis for linking global communication systems.
5. The Fold-Out Bed
Sarah E. Goode was an enslaved woman who gained her freedom at the end of the Civil War. Once free, she opened a furniture store with her carpenter husband.
While building furniture, Goode noticed that some of her neighbors were having trouble with fitting beds into their small apartments. That led her to invent fold-out beds that were known as cabinet beds at the time. She also became only the second black woman to receive a U.S. patent for her invention.
6. Synthetic Bristle Brushes
Lydia D. Newman made significant strides in black hair care in the 1890s. At that time, most hairbrushes were made with animal hairs and were too soft to effectively manipulate thicker hair.
These brushes were also harder to clean. As a result, Newman invented a synthetic bristle brush to use with black women’s hair and received a patent for it.
7. HVAC Systems
Alice H. Parker was born in New Jersey but also lived in Washington DC. The cold weather in these regions led her to wonder if there was a way to efficiently heat an entire home that didn’t involve a wood-burning fireplace. This desire resulted in an invention that became the precursor of modern Heating, Ventalation, Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems.
8. The Feeding Tube
Bessie Blount Griffin was working as a physical therapist at the end of World War II. When working with soldiers who were amputees, she noted that many of them had challenges with eating.
To help with that, she invented an electric self-feeding tube that released a small portion of food when the patient bit down. This helped with their independence and nutrition.
9. The Clothes Wringer
Ellen F. Englin made the process of washing clothes more manageable when she created the clothes wringer in 1888. The device was designed to remove excess water from clothes after they had been washed.
10. The Signal Chair
Miriam Elizabeth Benjamin wanted to make it easier for people to get the attention of others while at the doctor’s, at the movie theater, in a meeting with government officials, or at a hotel. This led to the invention of the signal chair that is used most often on airplanes to call to flight attendants.
The interesting thing is that this is far from an exhaustive list of the contributions that black women have made. Black women have made even more contributions to technology, medicine, beauty, and more. They also continue to excel and put their marks in different industries.
