Women Inventors SPOTLIGHT ON A person who devises some new process, appliance, machine, or article.

Sybilla Masters – Corn Mill First American women inventor on record Hominy was a common food in the 1700’s and was made by grinding corn using 2 large stones called millstones She invented the corn mill which used hammers to pound the corn 1715 - King George granted a patent for the process of Cleaning and Curing the Indian Corn Growing in the several Colonies in America to Thomas Masters for "a new invention found out by Sybilla, his wife." This was the first patent issued by the king to a person from the American colonies.

Diagram of Sybilla Masters corn pulverizing machine invented in 1711.

Patent Letter

Tabitha Babbitt – Circular Saw Tabitha Babbitt is credited with inventing the first circular saw used in a saw mill in 1813. She was watching men use the difficult two-man pit saw when she noticed that half of their motion was wasted. Because of her beliefs as a Shaker, Babbitt never patented any of her inventions.

Mary Anderson – Windshield Wipers While riding a streetcar on a snowy day in New York City she notices how the driver had to clean the window himself. She designs a windshield blade that would connect itself to the interior of the car, allowing the driver to operate the windshield wiper from inside the vehicle. 1903 - receives a patent for her invention before Henry Ford manufactures cars. She does not get any interest in her patent, it expired in 1920. 1922 - Cadillac became the first car manufacturer to adopt windshield wipers as standard equipment.

Virginia Apgar – Apgar score Virginia Apgar was an obstetrical anesthesiologist. Leader in the fields of anesthesiology and teratology. The Apgar score is calculated based on an infant's condition at one minute and five minutes after birth. If the five-minute Apgar score is low, additional scores may be assigned every five minutes.

Bette Nesmith Graham – Liquid Paper She was a single mother (Michael Nesmith of the Monkees) supporting herself by working as a secretary at a bank in the 1950’s. She realized that artists never correct by erasing but by covering up. She applies this principle to correcting her numerous typing mistakes by developing a correction paint. This eventually becomes known as Liquid Paper. She eventually sells her company to Gillette Corp for $47.5 million.

“...let us begin and create in idea a State; and yet a true creator is necessity, which is the mother of our invention. “ The Republic, Book II, 369c, Plato