Mary Kies - Patenting Pioneer - First Female U.S. Patentee
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| Audience/Grade: | College Freshman-Continuing Education |
| Discipline(s): |
Design Entrepreneurship and Innovation General Engineering, Engineering Science |
| Special Topic(s): |
Women Inventors History of Technology |
| Learning Resource Type: |
Teaching - Case Study |
| Media Type: |
Unknown |
| Author(s): |
Organization:about.com |
| Description: | "On May 15 1809, Mary Dixon Kies received the first U. S. patent issued to a woman. Kies, a Connecticut native, invented a process for weaving straw with silk or thread. First Lady, Dolley Madison praised her for boosting the nation’s hat industry. Unfortunately, the patent file was destroyed in the great Patent Office fire in 1836. Until about 1840, only 20 other patents were issued to women. The inventions related to apparel, tools, cook stoves, and fire places. The Patent Act of 1790 opened the door for anyone, male or female, to protect his or her invention with a patent. However, because in many states women could not legally own property independent of their husbands, many women inventors didn't bother to patent their new inventions. Mary Kies broke that pattern on May 5, 1809." |
| Rating: |
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| Related Resources | |
| Keywords: | women inventors gender equity |
| Is Component of: |
About.com Inventors |
| Usage Tip | |
| Use of Resource: |
Part of a larger series on women inventors. |
| Difficulty: |
Easy |
| Interactivity Level: |
Very low |
| Version Info | |
| Publication Date: | July 2007 |
| Platform/Format: |
WWW |
| Cost: |
Free |
| Download URL: | http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blkeis.htm |
| Metadata: |
IEEE LOM Record |
| Collection: |
NEEDS
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