Friday, February 5, 2021

Inventing the Modern Home, Black History Month Series -- Marie Van Brittan Brown

Everyone wants to feel safe at home. As a nurse living in Queens, New York, Marie Van Brittan Brown often came home after dark to an empty house. This, plus her husband’s long hours away as an electronics technician, drove Brown to invent a security system to see who was knocking at her door. 
 
The system created a closed-circuit television system for surveillance known as CCTV, which included peepholes, a television monitor, and two-way microphones. Brown was subsequently cited on 32 patents, and elements of her system are widely used today. She also served as an inspiration to her daughter, Norma, who grew up to be a nurse and an inventor.
 
Read more about Brown and her invention: https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/marie-van-brittan-brown
 
U.S. Patent no. 3,482,037
Title: Home Security System Utilizing Television Surveillance
Patented Dec. 2, 1969