Nat'l Women's History Month

We are women, hear us roar! It's National Women's History Month - a time to celebrate the wide range of contributions and achievements made by women that have been overlooked in many U.S. history classes.



The National Women's History Project, founded in 1980, is an educational nonprofit organization. Their mission is to recognize and celebrate the diverse and historic accomplishments of women by providing information and educational materials and programs.



You can help give the National Women's History Museum a permanent home; and, let us not forget about TITLE IX which is also known as the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, named for the late Congresswoman who wrote the law. She did so an outgrowth of adversities she faced in obtaining her college degrees at the University of Hawaii, University of Nebraska and University of Chicago.



If you've ever used a windshield wiper, cordless phone, dishwasher, Liquid Paper, automatic drip coffee maker, sports bra, Spanx, disposable diapers, electric hot water heater, scotchguard, circular saw, or a Roomba, you can thank a woman for inventing it!



Author Ethlie Ann Vare has written two books on the subject: Patently Female and Mothers of Invention: From the Bra to the Bomb: Forgotten Women and Their Unforgettable Ideas.



Ms. Vare is working with Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry on an interactive exhibit on women inventors and it could happen this year!





Why are so many women mystery Inventors?


We'll probably never know how many women inventors there were. That's because in the early years of the United States, a woman could not get a patent in her own name. A patent is considered a kind of property, and until the late 1800s laws forbade women in most states from owning property or entering into legal agreements in their own names. Instead, a woman's property would be in the name of her father or husband.
For example, many people believe that Sybilla Masters was the first American woman inventor. In 1712 she developed a new corn mill, but was denied a patent because she was a woman. Three years later the patent was filed successfully in her husband's name.