nPosted on May 17, 2020
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nWhen you hear that someone “came from a family of inventors,” what do you assume?
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I might immediately picture a family living in the early 1800s, during the Industrial Revolution…A family with a father who invents stuff in a barn or shed while the mother does the less glamorous heavy labor of running a household…And maybe several sons tinkering alongside their father, and eventually becoming inventors in their own right.
I might immediately picture a family living in the early 1800s, during the Industrial Revolution…A family with a father who invents stuff in a barn or shed while the mother does the less glamorous heavy labor of running a household…And maybe several sons tinkering alongside their father, and eventually becoming inventors in their own right.n
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nHow’d I do?
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nOkay, first off, that assumption doesn’t mention race, but IF the family lived comfortably together in the early 1800s, in the U.S., tinkering and inventing, it was likely a white family.
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nAs soon as I started reading about Mary Kenner’s family, I read that this family was Black. Mary Davidson Kenner was born in North Carolina in 1912, and during her lifetime, her father (Sidney Nathaniel Davidson) invented a travel-sized clothing press, a stretcher with wheels, a window washer for trains, and a light signal for trains.
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nUnfortunately, American society was even more racist then than it is now, and Davidson had some tough times making money off his inventions. One invention was actually stolen from him!
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nKenner’s sister invented and sold board games.
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nKenner became a florist, wife of a boxer, and foster parent to FIVE boys! Wow! She had four flower shops in the Washington D.C. area.
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nAnd she was an inventor.
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nMary Kenner shared a patent with her sister for a toilet tissue holder. She was the lone owner of patents for a back washer and a carrier attachment for a walker. She was MOST known for inventing a sanitary belt with a moisture-proof pocket that would hold a sanitary napkin.
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nGetting a patent costs money. Kenner worked and saved up to patent her sanitary belt, and then she contacted companies that might manufacture her invention. She actually found a company, Sonn-Nap-Pack, that was very interested! Hooray!
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nBut then Sonn-Nap-Pack discovered that Kenner was black, and they said “no thanks” to her invention.
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nBoo! Hiss!
Some time after that, Kenner’s patent expired, and her invention became public domain, and then everyone could make her sanitary belt.
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nApparently, people made money off of Kenner’s invention. OTHER people. Mary Kenner herself never made a dime for this invention.
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nAgain, boo, hiss!
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nAlso on this date:
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nConstitution Day in Norway
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nPirate Barti Ddu’s birthday
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nAnniversary of the discovery of Jupiter’s belts
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nGalician Literature Day
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nAuthor Anna Brownell Jameson’s birthday
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nAnniversary of the unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education
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nConstitution Day in Nauru
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nAnniversary of the discovery of an ancient … computer?
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nBay to Breakers Race
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n(Third Sunday in May)
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nPlan ahead:
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Check out my Pinterest boards for:
Check out my Pinterest boards for:
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nMay holidays
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nMay birthdays
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nHistorical anniversaries in May
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nAnd here are my Pinterest boards for:
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nJune holidays
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nJune birthdays
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nHistorical anniversaries in June
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