Day 14 - Marie Van Brittan Brown - Home Security

Marie Van Brittan Brown and Albert

1922 - 1999

Who Was She?

Born in Jamaica Queens, NY, Marie Van Brittan lived there all of her life.

She became a nurse and married a man named Albert Brown. As the years passed, her neighborhood changed. The crime rate went up and the police response was delayed.

Nurses do not have 9 - 5 schedules and Marie was often out at odd times. Albert didn't have a 9 - 5 job either. He was an electronics technician, and he worried about his wife's safety when he wasn't home.

One of Marie's biggest concerns was knowing whether or not it was safe to open the door when someone knocked.

Marie began to consider how she could create something that would give her and Albert some piece of mind.

What Did She Invent?

In 1966, Marie and Albert started designing a system that would allow them to see who was at the door. They had peepholes at three different levels for really tall people, average-sized people, and a lower one for people who might be in wheelchairs, or children. 

They connected this system to a camera that could be moved to show who was at the door and send that image to a closed circuit television system. 

Marie also wanted to make sure that if there was a problem, help could be contacted with just the push of a button.

Marie and Albert invented the very first home security system.

source

Their patent was approved in 1969.

Though every home security system in use today is based on the system Marie and Albert patented...they never saw a dime for their invention.

Her Legacy?

If you have a security system in your house, been into any small business with a security system, gone into a grocery store and seen a screen watching you, or been in a hotel where you see their monitor, you have Marie Van Brittan Brown to thank for it.

Celebrate Black History! -


Day 1 - The ABC's of Black History Month

Day 2 - Archie Alphonso Alexander - Mathematician/Engineer

Day 3 - Sarah Boone - Inventor and Domestic Goddess
Day 4 - Charles R. Drew - Blood Man
Day 5 - Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner - Inventor of The Sanitary Pad

Day 6 - Ernest Everett Just - Biologist, Zoologist, Cell man
Day 7 - Frederick McKinley Jones - The Coolest Man in Modern History

Day 8 - Sarah Goode - A Practical Bed For Small Spaces
Day 9 - William Henry Cling - Did He Invent The Hospital Bed Before Gatch?
Day 10 - Inez Beverly Prosser and Brown V.S. The Board of Education
Day 11 - Jan Ernst Mateliger - Mechanical Engineer/Sole Man
Day 12 - Samuel L. Kountz Jr. - Revolutionized Transplant Surgery
Day 13 - Lewis Howard Latimer - Incandescent Inventor
Day 14 - Marie Van Brittan Brown - Home Security
Day 15 - Norbert Rillieux - Sugar Man
Day 16 - Otis Boykin - He Kept Hearts Beating
Day 17 - Alice H. Parker - Heating It Up!
Day 18 - Lloyd Quarterman - Chemist and Atom Man
Day 19 - Robert F. Flemming Jr. - Guitar Man
Day 20 - Charles S. L. Baker - The Friction Radiator 
Day 21 - Granville T. Woods - The Black Edison
Day 22 - Alfred L. Cralle - Next Time You Have Ice Cream...
Day 23 - Ellen Elgin - Through The Wringer
Day 24 - Dr. Daniel Hale Williams - Holding A Heart In the Palm of His Hands
Day 25 - Benjamin Bradley - Steam Engine Dominance
Day 26 - Elijah McCoy - The Real One
Day 27 - Alexander Miles - Hold The Door, Please!