Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner was born on May 17, 1912, in Monroe, North Carolina. Her father Sidney Nathaniel Davidson and her maternal grandfather Robert Phromeberger were both inventors. This familial interest in inventing inspired Kenner from a very young age. At just 6 years old, she attempted inventing a self-oiling hinge for doors. She then went on to create other inventions throughout her childhood such as a portable ashtray and an absorbent umbrella that could soak up rain water.
Kenner graduated from Dunbar High School in 1931 and was admitted to Howard University. She attended college for a year and a half, but dropped out due to gender discrimination and financial difficulties. In 1950, she became a professional florist and ran her chain of flower shops into the 1970s while inventing things in her spare time.
In her lifetime, Kenner created many inventions and secured several patents. Many of her inventions were developed out of necessity. During her era, menstruation was not a commonly discussed topic and was considered taboo. Kenner realized that despite society’s general neglect of the issue, there was a wide-spread need for a hygienic tool that would allow women to minimize disruption to their daily routines when they were on their menstrual cycles.
She originally invented the sanitary belt in the 1920s, but she couldn’t afford a patent at the time. She improved her primary version over time and continually updated the invention. The Sonn-Nap-Pack Company heard of her invention in 1957 and was interested in mass producing her product, however when they learned that she was African-American, they were no longer interested.
Kenner described the situation in an interview saying, “One day I was contacted by a company that expressed an interest in marketing my idea. I was so jubilant … I saw houses, cars and everything about to come my way. . . . Sorry to say, when they found out I was Black, their interest dropped.” Notwithstanding this initial rejection, an undeterred Kenner persevered, securing the patent for her sanitary belt in 1957, and going on to invent many other inventions.
In 1976 Kenner patented an attachment for a walker that included a hard-surfaced tray and a soft pocket for carrying items. Kenner also invented a toilet paper holder that she patented. Her final patent, granted on September 29, 1987, was for a mounted back washer and massager. Kenner never received any awards or formal recognition for her work. However, her inventions and contributions helped pave the way for subsequent innovations. Kenner still holds the record for the greatest number of patents awarded to a Black woman by the U.S. government.
As the developer of the precursor to the modern self-adhesive Maxi pad, Kenner transformed the entire world of female sanitary care. Her other inventions have since evolved throughout the years with similar versions still remaining in use.
This text is excerpted from: https://briefly.co.za/94350-mary-beatrice-davidson-kenner-biography-death-quotes-facts-net-worth.html, https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/mary-kenner-1912-2006/, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Kenner.
Nannie Helen Burroughs was born on May 2, 1879, in Orange, Virginia, to John and Jennie Burroughs, both former slaves. She was the eldest of five children. After the death of her younger sisters and her father, Ms. Burroughs and her mother relocated to Washington, D.C. where there were better opportunities for employment and education.
Upon graduating from M Street High School with honors in 1896, Ms. Burroughs sought work as a domestic science teacher in the District of Columbia Public Schools. Despite her qualifications, she was refused the position because her skin was “too black.” She was advised that they preferred lighter-complexioned Black teachers.
Ms. Burroughs later wrote that after that experience, “[a]n idea was struck out of the suffering of that disappointment — that I would some day have a school here in Washington that school politics had nothing to do with, and that would give all sorts of girls a fair chance. It came to me like a flash of light, and I knew I was to do that thing when the time came.”
Ms. Burroughs continued to work and apply herself. She was employed as an editorial secretary and bookkeeper of the Foreign Mission Board of the National Baptist Convention. Committed to educating and inspiring young Black women and helping them understand their worth and value, Ms. Burroughs opened the National Training School in 1908, a school dedicated to the education of Black women. The school’s motto read: “Work. Support thyself. To thine own powers appeal.”
In the first few years of its existence, the school provided evening classes for women who had no other means of education. There were only 31 students. However, after time, and due to its exceptional reputation, the school eventually attracted women from all over the nation. Ms. Burroughs required all students to take a history course that was dedicated to learning about influential African Americans, since this topic was excluded from general historical curriculum in the U.S. at the time.
The school was only the beginning of Ms. Burroughs’ long and illustrious career as an educator, orator, businesswoman, religious leader and activist. She helped found the National Association of Colored Women, was appointed by President Herbert Hoover to chair a special committee on housing for African Americans, founded the Women's Convention (serving from 1900 to 1947), and acted as a central figure in the network of African American suffragists.
After dedicating her life to educating and uplifting the overlooked of American society, Ms. Burroughs passed away on May 20, 1961, in Washington D.C. After her death, her school was renamed the Nannie Helen Burroughs School in her honor.
Known for her wisdom and insight, she was quoted as saying, “Education and justice are democracy’s only life insurance.”
This text is excerpted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nannie_Helen_Burroughs,
https://www.azquotes.com/author/24387-Nannie_Helen_Burroughs. To read Ms. Burroughs’ speeches, visit: https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/directory/nannie-helen-burroughs/.
Bridget “Biddy” Mason was born into slavery on August 15, 1818, in Hancock County, Georgia or Mississippi. At an early age, she was taken from her parents and moved to the plantation of a different slave owner. During her teenage years, she learned domestic and agricultural skills. Additionally, she developed skills in herbal medicine and midwifery taught to her by other female slaves. These skills were passed down from African, Caribbean, and Native American traditions. Her knowledge benefited both the slaves and the plantation owners.
Ms. Mason was forced to travel west with slave owners Robert and Rebecca Smith when they joined the Mormon migration to Utah. Ms. Mason had three children: Ellen born in 1838, Ann born in 1844, and Harriet born in 1847.
In 1848, Ms. Mason, then 30, walked 1,700 miles behind a 300-wagon caravan. Along the route, Ms. Mason was responsible for setting up and breaking camp, cooking the meals, herding cattle, and serving as a midwife. She also took care of her three young daughters, aged 10, 4, and a newborn.
In 1851, Smith moved his family once again. This time a 150-wagon caravan headed for San Bernardino, California. While California was supposedly a “free state,” Smith continued to hold Ms. Mason and her daughters captive.
While in California, Ms. Mason and her children befriended free Blacks who informed the L.A. County Sheriff that Smith was illegally holding slaves. Soonthereafter, Smith made plans to move to Texas, a state where slavery was still legal. The sheriff was alerted that the Smiths planned to illegally force Ms. Mason and her daughters to move to Texas with them. The sheriff gathered a posse and apprehended Smith’s wagon train in Cajon Pass, California, and took Ms. Mason and her family into protective custody under a writ of habeas corpus.
Ms. Mason challenged Smith for her freedom utilizing the court system. Judge Benjamin Hayes circumvented racist testimony laws that prevented Blacks from testifying against whites by interviewing Ms. Mason in his chambers. There, she said that she did not want to go back to the south with the Smiths. As a result, on January 21, 1856, Judge Hayes granted the writ, ruling “it further appearing by satisfactory proof to the judge here, that all of the said persons of color are entitled to their freedom, and are free and cannot be held in slavery or involuntary servitude, it is therefore argued that they are entitled to their freedom and are free forever.”
Ms. Mason became a doctor’s assistant and ran a midwifery business. She accumulated a fortune worth about $7.5 million in today’s dollars, making her one of the richest women in Los Angeles at that time. She established a homestead in what became downtown Los Angeles. Ms. Mason used her wealth to establish a daycare center for working parents and created an account at a store where families who lost their homes in flooding could get supplies. She also co-founded and financed the First African Methodist Episcopal (FAME) Church, which still thrives to this day. Known as Grandma Mason, she died in 1891 and is honored through the Biddy Mason monument in downtown Los Angeles.
Ms. Mason was fond of saying, "If you hold your hand closed, nothing good can come in. The open hand is blessed, for it gives in abundance, even as it receives."
This text is excerpted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biddy_Mason, https://www.aclunc.org/sites/goldchains/explore/biddy-mason.html and https://www.nps.gov/people/biddymason.htm.
