Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 1, Number 14, DeMotte, Jasper County, 27 October 1932 — Women Not Far Behind Men in Inventive Field [ARTICLE]

Women Not Far Behind Men in Inventive Field

While the first American invention was patented by a man, the records further state that the process was "found out by Sybille, his wife.” This patent was granted by the British government to Thomas Masters for an invention for cleaning and curing Indian corn. For 19 years after the enactment of the patent law in 1790 not a single one of the 10,000 patents issued was granted to a woman. The first successful application from a woman was recorded in 1809 and was for a method of weaving straw with silk or thread. Even for a quarter of a century afterward there were less than a score of patents granted to women. Women have patented inventions relating to power machinery, a belt drive, a flexible shaft coupling, a solar heating plant, a reversible turbine, automobile contrivances, machinery for harvesting ad planting, kitchen and household appliances.