Designing Women

[DBF]

United States Patents Issued to
Maria E. Beasley - Margaret "Maggie" Knight - Josephine G. Cochrane
(United States Patent Office Learning and Resources Public Domain)


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A "Titanic" Inventor": Maria E. Beasley (1847-1904) - She married Samuel Beasley in 1865 and was running her household until she went to the Women's Pavilion at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876. It was at this time in her life where she began her creative pursuits.

Her first United States patent was granted in 1878. This invention of a "barrel-hooping machine" enabled manufacturers to produced 1,500 barrels per day. This was a lucrative invention for Mrs. Beasley. From there she went on to invent foot warmers, cooking pans and anti-derailment devices for trains {*}. Her most famous patent was granted on April 6, 1880. Her design was patented in Britain as well where it was used in the ship building industry. In fact it was still a popular item used in 1912 when the Titanic was launched - for it carried Mrs. Beasley's design - a new and improved "life raft".

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"America's First Bag Lady": Margaret E. "Maggie" Knight (1838–1914) - This York Maine native created an item that all of us have used - a "paper bag". At the age of thirty she folded and glued paper to create a flat-bottom bag, then she designed a machine to mass produce it, then a man stole the idea to patent it himself, then in court he claimed a woman "could not possibly understand the mechanical complexities", {1} then she won her case. Her patent for her paper bag machine was dated October 28, 1879. She would invent and in many cases patent a sewing machine reel, a machine for cutting the soles of shoes, a window frame with its' sash and in 1902 a compound rotary engine. At the time of her death in 1904 she had accumulated 27 patents in her name.

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"I'll Do It Myself": Josephine Cochrane (1839-1913) - You might say creativity was in her DNA. Her maternal grandfather a veteran of the Revolutionary War held the first patent on a steamboat while her father was a talented civil engineer overseeing the production in mills, whether they be woolen, saw or grist all powered by the Ohio River. She learned at an early age that for every problem and dilemma one faced in life - there was a way to find a use of technology to solve. If one didn't exist you simply invented it yourself and this is what she did.

Her problem was how to protect her china dishes from breakage when washing by hand - so she set out to design and build a machine that could wash her dishes. "If nobody else is going to invent a machine to solve my problem - I'll do it myself," she vowed, "quickly sketching out a design." {2} On December 28, 1886 the patent office issued U.S. patent no. 355,139 "Dish Washing Machine."

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Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards
December 3, 1842 – March 30, 1911
(United States Public Domain)​

She put the "Home" in "Economics": The Cambridge Massachusetts graduating class of 1873 made history, for in that year Ellen Henrietta Swallow not only became the first female to graduate but she would also be the first female instructor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She was an expert in industrial and environmental chemistry and was the founder of the home economics movement in America.

Concerned about women and their domestic lives she focused on such topics as good nutrition, preparing meals, proper clothing for the family, physical fitness, sanitation and adapting into their lives efficiency so they could enjoy other pursuits other than "cooking and cleaning". She described in her 1882 book: "The Chemistry of Cooking and Cleaning: A Manual for Housekeepers" how to organize your kitchen for efficiency. In 1908 she became the first president of the American Home Economics Association. At the time of her death in 1911, she was still listed as an instructor at MIT.

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Julia Morgan
January 20, 1872 – February 2, 1957
(United States Public Domain)​

"She was the King of this Castle": San Francisco born Julia became interested in architecture at an early age. When she was seven years of age her parents realized that there was better educational opportunities in the east so her father stayed behind in California while the rest of the family moved to New York. Through friends Julia met the successful architect Pierre Le Brun. He would prove to be an encouragement to Julia in her educational pursuits. She went to the University of California at Berkley graduating in 1894 with a degree in civil engineering for at that time they had no architectural program. She studied in Paris at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. It took her three tries to get into the program but she succeeded. When she returned to California she got her architectural license in 1904 and the 1906 earthquake in San Francis was instrumental in building her career due to the city's rebuilding.

In 1911 came the highlight of her career when she was approached by William Randolph Hearst to build a home in San Simeon California. For the next 28 years her life would be building the home we know today as the "Hearst Castle".

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Other Interesting Facts

• Before the United States Patent Act of 1790 only men were entitled to receive patents.
• In 1812, Tabitha Babbit living in a Shaker community and witnessing how difficult it was for the men to cut wood with a pit saw, which required two users and only cut in one direction. she figured out if she attached attached a circular blade to her spinning wheel she'd have success — A Circular Saw. {**}
• 1843: Ada Lovelace was translating the notes of Charles Babbage a mathematics professor. As she was doing this project she added her own notes, tripling the original text. She is credited with writing the world's first computer algorithm. {**}
• The first woman to receive a civil engineering degree from an American University was Elizabeth Bragg (1854 - 1929). She graduated in the class 1876 from the University of California , Berkley.
• Mary Anderson (1866-1953) - in 1902 while riding in a trolley in New York city on a rainy day and watching the driver open his window to be able to see anything - went home and invented the windshield wiper.
• Sarah Breedlove (1867-1919) born into a family of former slaves was the first in her family to be born after the Emancipation. She goes on to be the first female self-made millionaire in the United States. Her patents were in beauty products specifically designed for African American women and their hair. Her company also employed African American workers. She once said: "If I have accomplished anything in life it is because I have been willing to work hard." {1}

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Sources
1. https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=12223
2. https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/journeys-innovation/historical-stories/ill-do-it-mysel
3. https://alltogether.swe.org/2019/03/women-in-engineering-history/
4. https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/ellen-h-swallow-richards
5. http://hearstcastle.org/history-behind-hearst-castle/historic-people/profiles/julia-morgan/
{*} Wikipedia - Maria Beasley/Ellen Swallow Richards/Julia Morgan
{**} https://247wallst.com/special-report/2019/03/06/50-inventions-you-never-knew-were-invented-by-women/2/

 

[Eleanor Rose]

Wow! All of these women are fascinating. They would make Julia Sugarbaker proud.