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Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class, a production

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Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 2: Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson,

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Speaker 2: and I'm Holly Frye. Holly, you've been on kind of

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Speaker 2: an inventor kick lately, I have, and I'm joining you now.

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Speaker 1: Welcome, Welcome to.

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Speaker 2: In today's episode is actually on two sisters, Mary Beatrice

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Speaker 2: Davidson Kenner and Mildred Ethel Davidson Austin Smith. Beatrice's inventions

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Speaker 2: were focused largely on making life easier and less annoying

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Speaker 2: for herself and the people around her, including inventions related

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Speaker 2: to something I personally find pretty annoying, which is our periods. Uh.

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Speaker 2: Mildred's invention was more about family, and that invention grew

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Speaker 2: from her disability after she developed multiple sclerosis. This is

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Speaker 2: one of those subjects where there are just little bits

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Speaker 2: of misinformation and inaccuracies that have become incredibly widespread and

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Speaker 2: are now kind of taken as fact because different writers

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Speaker 2: have all been sourcing the same work and also sourcing

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Speaker 2: each other. So I've tried to sort out as much

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Speaker 2: of that as possible, but there are definitely still some gaps. Also,

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Speaker 2: there is a photo that is purportedly of Beatrice as

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Speaker 2: a young woman, that is just all over the place,

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Speaker 2: including as of when we recorded this, things like the

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Speaker 2: Wikipedia article about her. I'm ninety nine percent sure that

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Speaker 2: photo is really of Mildred. There's not really as much

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Speaker 2: recent writing about Mildred, but the photo that is sometimes

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Speaker 2: used for her is again I'm like ninety nine percent

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Speaker 2: sure that's really of Beatrice. And the reason that I

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Speaker 2: think this is that there are also some publicly available

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Speaker 2: photos of each of them from later on in their lives,

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Speaker 2: like one of b Beatrice that was included alongside an obituary,

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Speaker 2: and one of Mildred that was in a nineteen eighty

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Speaker 2: two article about her. That photo of the older Mildred

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Speaker 2: looks more like the photo that's usually used on articles

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Speaker 2: about Beatrice, and then the photo of older Beatrice looks

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Speaker 2: more like the one that is sometimes used for Mildred.

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Speaker 2: I also found a photo in newspaper coverage of Mildred's

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Speaker 2: career as a singer in the thirties that very strongly

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Speaker 2: resembles that photo that's usually used for Beatrice today. That's

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Speaker 2: just a thing to be aware of if you go

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Speaker 2: google these women and see the photos that are being used.

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Speaker 2: I will talk about the odd giggle this whole thing

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Speaker 2: gave me in behind the scenes on Friday, Okay. Mildred

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Speaker 2: and Beatrice came from a family of inventors. Their maternal grandfather,

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Speaker 2: Robert Pink Fronbarger, worked for a railroad company. In nineteen fifteen,

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Speaker 2: he and William Floyd Byrome were issued US Patent one

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Speaker 2: one three four eight seven one for a current supply

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Speaker 2: system for electrical railways. According to interviews that Beatrice and

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Speaker 2: Mildred gave later on in their lives, their grandfather also

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Speaker 2: invented a tricolor signaling system for trains, but he didn't

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Speaker 2: get the patent on that one. Fronberger was black, and

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Speaker 2: he demonstrated his invention to some white railroad men before

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Speaker 2: he had applied for a patent on it. They stole

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Speaker 2: that design from him, and because of the entrench systems

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Speaker 2: of racism that he was living and working in, there

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Speaker 2: really wasn't anything he could do about it. Mildred and

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Speaker 2: Beatrice's father, Sidney Nathaniel Davidson, was a Baptist minister, and

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Speaker 2: several of his brothers were ministers as well. Sydney had

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Speaker 2: a close pressing business and also owned a funeral home,

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Speaker 2: and he invented things that were related to both of

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Speaker 2: those professions. In nineteen fourteen, he was awarded a patent

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Speaker 2: on a close presser that could fit in a person's luggage,

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Speaker 2: as described in US Past at one zero eight eight

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Speaker 2: three two nine quote. The object of this invention resides

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Speaker 2: in the provision of a trouser's creasing device, wherein trousers

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Speaker 2: may be disposed in a flattened position to be pressed

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Speaker 2: and creased. This device had multiple hinged leaves with rounded ends,

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Speaker 2: so that the parts of the pants that were supposed

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Speaker 2: to be creased stayed creased, but the presser did not

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Speaker 2: make unwanted creases where the legs of the pants needed

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Speaker 2: to be folded to fit in the luggage. Beatrice and

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Speaker 2: Mildred later gave interviews in which they talked about what

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Speaker 2: happened with this invention. Apparently a company in New York

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Speaker 2: was interested in bringing it to market, but, possibly influenced

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Speaker 2: by his father in law's experience, Sidney tried to put

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Speaker 2: it into production himself with the help of one of

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Speaker 2: his brothers. According to Beatrice, he and a brother only

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Speaker 2: managed to make one presser, which they sold for fourteen dollars.

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Speaker 2: According to Mildred, Sidney wanted to develop it with his brothers,

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Speaker 2: but he couldn't get their interest, and ultimately he sold

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Speaker 2: the rights to the design for much less than she

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Speaker 2: thought it was worth. Later on, Sidney Davidson was also

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Speaker 2: issued US patent two six zero seven one zero three

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Speaker 2: on what he called a body lifter. This was meant

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Speaker 2: for mortuary staff to use to move people's bodies, and

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Speaker 2: it could also serve as a mortuary table. It was

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Speaker 2: designed to be easy to slip under a person's body,

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Speaker 2: and it could be used like a stretcher to carry

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Speaker 2: living people who for whatever reason couldn't be moved with

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Speaker 2: some other type of stretcher. He also designed a long

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Speaker 2: handled brush that could dispense water that was to be

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Speaker 2: used for washing trains, although I wasn't able to find

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Speaker 2: a patent for that one. Mary Beatrice Davidson was born

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Speaker 2: in Monroe, North Carolina, on May seventeenth, nineteen twelve. Her

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Speaker 2: name appears in multiple ways in newspapers and other written

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Speaker 2: documents from her lifetime, sometimes as Mary Beatrice, sometimes m Beatrice,

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Speaker 2: and sometimes just Beatrice. Later on in her life, people

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Speaker 2: called her aunt. B Monroe is considered part of the

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Speaker 2: Charlotte metropolitan area today, and Mildred Ethel Davidson was born

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Speaker 2: in Charlotte on January thirty first, nineteen sixteen. Beatrice and

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Speaker 2: Mildred also had two brothers, Perry, who was the oldest,

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Speaker 2: and Leyton, who was born between Beatrice and Mildred. The

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Speaker 2: family lived in a predominantly white part of town, and

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Speaker 2: when the children reached school age, they had to go

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Speaker 2: to private school because there wasn't a public school in

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Speaker 2: the neighborhood that would accept black children. When Beatrice was

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Speaker 2: five and Mildred was an infant, Beatrice was seriously burned.

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Speaker 2: Perry and a cousin had been told that if they

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Speaker 2: raked leaves, Santa Claus would be good to them, and

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Speaker 2: Beatrice thought that if she helped, he might be good

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Speaker 2: to her as well.

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Speaker 1: The boys had raked the lead into two piles, and

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Speaker 1: she decided to combine them, not realizing that they had

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Speaker 1: just set fire to one of those piles. She grabbed

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Speaker 1: an armful of leaves from that pile, and by the

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Speaker 1: time she realized they were burning, some of them were

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Speaker 1: sticking to her clothing.

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Speaker 2: Beatrice's burns were mainly around her mouth and chin, and

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Speaker 2: the doctors who came to see her did not expect

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Speaker 2: her to live because of the smoke and flame that

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Speaker 2: she had inhaled. At the time, the only hospital in

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Speaker 2: the Charlotte area that accepted black patients didn't have a

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Speaker 2: lot of experience treating burns, so her mother, Nelly, and

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Speaker 2: her paternal grandmother, who worked as both a midwife and

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Speaker 2: a veterinarian, cared for her around the clock themselves for weeks.

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Speaker 1: Beatrice recovered, but she had scars around her lips and chin,

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Speaker 1: which she was teased and bullied over. Even adults told

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Speaker 1: her that she would never amount to anything because of

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Speaker 1: the scars on her face. This is another reason why

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Speaker 1: it seems like those photos are probably miss attributed. There

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Speaker 1: is no suggestion of a scar in the photo that

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Speaker 1: is usually used to represent her. Beatrice described herself as

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Speaker 1: becoming more and more determined to make something of herself

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Speaker 1: every time someone said something like this to her.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the photo that's usually used for Beatrice is like

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Speaker 2: a really pretty clear, straightforward view of her face, and

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Speaker 2: the ones that I think really are of Beatrice are

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Speaker 2: more like low resolution scans of things that ran in newspapers,

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Speaker 2: and so the photos are not as clear as the

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Speaker 2: one that's typically used for Beatrice that I think is

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Speaker 2: really of her sister. Beatrice also described herself as mechanically minded.

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Speaker 2: The first time she tried to invent something, she was

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Speaker 2: six years old. One of their doors had a squeaky hinge,

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Speaker 2: and after somebody oiled it, it would not take very

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Speaker 2: long for it to start squeaking again. She told her

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Speaker 2: mother that there should be a self oiling doorhinge, and

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Speaker 2: she had an idea for how to do this. She

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Speaker 2: worked on that idea until her hands hurt, but she

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Speaker 2: never quite nailed it.

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Speaker 1: Another idea she.

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Speaker 2: Had as a kid was a convertible roof that could

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Speaker 2: be used to protect the people who were riding on

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Speaker 2: the rumble seat of a car. And she designed a

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Speaker 2: sponge tip for the end of an umbrella so that

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Speaker 2: when you closed the umbrella and left it upside down

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Speaker 2: after you'd used it, the water would collect in that

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Speaker 2: sponge rather than pooling on the floor.

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Speaker 1: I think that's so ingenious. In nineteen twenty four, when

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Speaker 1: Beatrice was twelve and Mildred was eight, the family moved

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Speaker 1: to Washington, d c. Their mother Nelly had a sister

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Speaker 1: who lived there and had fallen in love with the

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Speaker 1: city while visiting. This opened up some new educational opportunities

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Speaker 1: for the children. Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School was the

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Speaker 1: first public high school for black students in the United States,

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Speaker 1: and it had developed a reputation for academic excellence. Washington,

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Speaker 1: d in the nineteen twenties, was also a much bigger

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Speaker 1: city than Charlotte, and that brought some other opportunities for

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Speaker 1: the siblings. While their father was an inventor, their mother

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Speaker 1: loved art and music, and in the early nineteen thirties, Perry, Beatrice,

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Speaker 1: and Mildred formed a musical trio. Sometimes it was called

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Speaker 1: Spade Flush and sometimes Perry and his sisters. They started

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Speaker 1: performing publicly and on the radio, and they got some

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Speaker 1: interest to get a music deal, but Mildred was still

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Speaker 1: a minor and she would have needed their father's permission

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Speaker 1: to sign any kind of contract. Sidney would not give

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Speaker 1: that permission because he was concerned about what it would

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Speaker 1: look like for a minister to allow his children to

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Speaker 1: perform in public, even though two of the children were

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Speaker 1: effectively adults by that point. He also did not think

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Speaker 1: that the jazz music they were singing was appropriate. While

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Speaker 1: Sydney had owned multiple businesses in Charlotte, after the family

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Speaker 1: he moved to Washington, d C. He had trouble finding work.

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Speaker 1: According to an interview that Beatrice gave in the nineteen nineties,

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Speaker 1: he left Washington to conduct their oldest brother's funeral, and

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Speaker 1: he didn't come back but for a while afterward. He

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Speaker 1: did send money from time to time, but that doesn't

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Speaker 1: seem correct. The youngest of the Davidson siblings, Leyton, died

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Speaker 1: in nineteen twenty six at the age of eleven after

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Speaker 1: an accidental injury, and he was buried back in Charlotte.

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Speaker 1: But Perry lived until nineteen fifty six, when his sisters

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Speaker 1: were in their forties, and his funeral was held in Washington,

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Speaker 1: d C. When Sydney died, he was also living in

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Speaker 1: d C, and according to his death notice, he was

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Speaker 1: minister at Washington, d C's Guildfield Baptist Church. So it's

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Speaker 1: possible that Beatrice misspoke during this interview, or that the

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Speaker 1: interviewer misunderstood her, or that there's just some other explanation

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Speaker 1: for this confusion. Beatrice and Mildred both graduated from Dunbar

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Speaker 1: High School, and as they became adults, their lives started

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Speaker 1: to diverge a little bit.

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Speaker 2: And we will take a quick sponsor break, and after

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Speaker 2: we get back we will focus more on Beatrice for

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Speaker 2: a little bit. We said earlier that Beatrice Davidson started

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Speaker 2: thinking of inventions when she was still a child. After

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Speaker 2: the family moved to Washington, d c. She started visiting

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Speaker 2: the US Patent and Trademark Office and learning how that

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Speaker 2: process worked and researching whether other people had already patented

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Speaker 2: any of her ideas. She also volunteered at a hospital,

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Speaker 2: and she wanted to train to become a nurse. She

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Speaker 2: said that she planned to go to the Tuskegee Institute

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Speaker 2: and that her father had said that he would pay

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Speaker 2: for her to go, but that money never materialized. It

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Speaker 2: is very possible that this was just because of what

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Speaker 2: was going going on in the world when Beatrice would

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Speaker 2: have been ready to go to nursing school. She graduated

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Speaker 2: from Dunbar in nineteen thirty one, so that was during

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Speaker 2: the Great Depression. Beatrice kept trying to invent things, and

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Speaker 2: she took on various jobs to try to earn enough

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Speaker 2: money to cover the cost of patenting them. She also

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Speaker 2: liked to cook and play the piano, and she really

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Speaker 2: liked to go out and see plays and other performances.

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Speaker 2: Eventually she got a job with the federal government. Various

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Speaker 2: sources say she started at the Census Bureau in nineteen

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Speaker 2: forty one and later moved on to the General Accounting

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Speaker 2: Office now known as the Government Accountability Office. This is

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Speaker 2: the independent, nonpartisan agency sometimes known as the investigative Arm

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Speaker 2: of Congress, which has existed to do things like audit

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Speaker 2: government agencies, investigate allegations of fraud and waste, and provide

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Speaker 2: reports on government efficiency since nineteen twenty one. For more

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Speaker 2: than one hundred years.

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Speaker 1: The GAO has done this through actual accounting, audit, and

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Speaker 1: nuns investigatory procedures, not by feeding things into a large

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Speaker 1: language model and using its output to decide what to

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Speaker 1: cut and who to fire. Several articles about Beatrice say

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Speaker 1: that during World War II, in addition to volunteering as

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Speaker 1: a nurse with the Red Cross, she worked as a

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Speaker 1: dance chaperone. Although she was unmarried at this point, she

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Speaker 1: would have been in her thirties.

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Speaker 2: A couple of sources say that she met a soldier

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Speaker 2: at one of these dances, fell in love with him,

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Speaker 2: and got married, with that marriage ending in a divorce

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Speaker 2: five years later. I could not find confirmation of this

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Speaker 2: marriage or who it was to, and Beatrice does not

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Speaker 2: mention it in the interviews that I had access to.

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Speaker 2: But her sister Mildred did get married in nineteen thirty eight,

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Speaker 2: and Mildred's husband did serve in World War Two, and

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Speaker 2: that marriage did end in divorce. So it is not

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Speaker 2: fully clear to me whether this is just another point

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Speaker 2: of confusion between the two sisters, or if Beatrice had

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Speaker 2: a man marriage in the forties that she just did

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Speaker 2: not want to talk about later. We do know that

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Speaker 2: Beatrice married James Kenner, known as Jabbo, in nineteen fifty one.

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Speaker 2: Jabo was one of the founders of the Black Police

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Speaker 2: Boys Club, a precursor to the Metropolitan Police Boys and

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Speaker 2: Girls Club. He had also been a professional boxer with

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Speaker 2: a promising career, including winning the Middle Atlantic Coast Black

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Speaker 2: Heavyweight Championship. His boxing style is where the name Jabbo

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00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:32,160
Speaker 2: came from, but his boxing career had been derailed when

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Speaker 2: he contracted tuberculosis in nineteen forty three. That was the

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Speaker 2: same year that the antibiotic streptomycin was first isolated, which

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00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:44,280
Speaker 2: was the first really effective treatment for TB. We covered

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00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:48,680
Speaker 2: streptomisin's development on the show back in twenty thirteen. Jabo

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00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:53,600
Speaker 2: was treated at Glendale Tuberculosis Sanitarium in Glendale, Maryland, and

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00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:57,080
Speaker 2: it took years for him to fully recover. After that,

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Speaker 2: he focused on working with youth, including becoming director of

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Speaker 2: the Boys and Girls Club. A nineteen forty seven article

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00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:08,080
Speaker 2: on him describes him as a hero to the area's youngsters.

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Speaker 2: As a little snapshot from their married life, Beatrice loved

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Speaker 2: to find four leaf clovers out in their yard, and

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00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:18,200
Speaker 2: there was one patch of grass that she would not

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00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,320
Speaker 2: let him cut so that she could hunt for clovers there.

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Speaker 2: When she found one, she would make a wish on

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Speaker 2: it and then she would press it in a book.

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00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:28,840
Speaker 2: She and her husband worked together on youth programs and

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Speaker 2: they eventually became foster parents and they adopted at least

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Speaker 2: one son from foster care. Beatrice was awarded her first

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Speaker 2: patent in nineteen fifty six. That was US Patent two

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00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:45,040
Speaker 2: seven four five four oh six sanitary belt. This is

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00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:47,640
Speaker 2: something she had been working on and improving since she

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00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:50,120
Speaker 2: was a teenager, and it is her most well known

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00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:53,360
Speaker 2: invention today, so to talk about it, we need to

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Speaker 2: talk a little bit about the history of menstrual protection.

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00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:01,800
Speaker 2: Generally speaking, in the very very distant past, it's likely

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Speaker 2: that people's menstrual periods were lighter and that people had

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Speaker 2: fewer of them because they were pregnant a lot more

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Speaker 2: often and also didn't have the robust nutrition that most

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00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:14,600
Speaker 2: of us, at least here in the US have today.

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00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:19,200
Speaker 2: The first written references to some kind of menstrual protection

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00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:22,520
Speaker 2: are pretty recent relative to how long people have been

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00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:25,919
Speaker 2: having periods. According to a number of sources, it is

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00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:29,960
Speaker 2: the story of Hypatia throwing one of her menstrul rags

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Speaker 2: at a man who would not leave her alone. We

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00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:35,600
Speaker 2: talk about that in our episode on Her that ran

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00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:39,280
Speaker 2: as a Saturday Classic on January twentieth of twenty twenty four.

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00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:43,880
Speaker 2: Hypatia lived around the fourth century, but this story about

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00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:47,439
Speaker 2: her throwing her rags at someone that first appeared in

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00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:51,280
Speaker 2: writing around the tenth century, So there's some speculation that

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00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,320
Speaker 2: hundreds are maybe more like thousands of years ago. People

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00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:58,680
Speaker 2: might have just bled into their clothes, especially since in

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00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:01,520
Speaker 2: a lot of cultures it was and in some cases

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00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:05,639
Speaker 2: still is expected for people to isolate themselves and rest

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00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:09,960
Speaker 2: when they were menstruating. At some point people started using

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00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:13,480
Speaker 2: some kind of absorbent material to try to contain the

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00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:16,959
Speaker 2: blood during their periods, and historically there has been a

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00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:20,520
Speaker 2: lot of ingenuity and problem solving involved in dealing with

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00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:24,480
Speaker 2: menstrual bleeding. The kinds of materials people have used have

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00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:27,679
Speaker 2: depended on where they lived and what was available there,

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00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:33,800
Speaker 2: so rags, moss, wool paper, cotton, animal furs or skins,

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00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:37,320
Speaker 2: and dried dung wrapped in cloth are among the many options.

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00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:40,680
Speaker 2: A lot of times writing about this is really focused

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00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:42,760
Speaker 2: on how some of these seem like they wouldn't work

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00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:46,920
Speaker 2: very well, but like people were also figuring it out. Yeah,

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00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:51,800
Speaker 2: were solving problems and discovering solutions. A lot of these

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00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:55,320
Speaker 2: are also still in use in various places around the world,

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Speaker 2: and in some cases homemade homegrown products work fine. A

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00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:02,879
Speaker 2: lot of them are definitely more sustainable than most of

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00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:06,600
Speaker 2: today's mass produced tampons and pads, which can create a

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00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:10,399
Speaker 2: lot of plastic waste. But for a lot of people,

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00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:14,760
Speaker 2: options like rags or moss or animal dung just aren't

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00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:19,960
Speaker 2: very comfortable or effective. Combined with stigma around menstruation and

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00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:23,919
Speaker 2: a lack of access to reliable menstrual products and to

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00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:28,199
Speaker 2: bathrooms and to clean water. All that together is a

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00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:32,640
Speaker 2: source of systemic sex based disadvantage known as period poverty.

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00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:36,080
Speaker 2: This includes kids in some parts of the world missing

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00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:39,879
Speaker 2: school during their periods or dropping out of school entirely

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00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:43,560
Speaker 2: after they start menstruating, and that brings us back to

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00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:48,000
Speaker 2: Beatrice Kenner's invention. By the nineteenth century, people in Europe

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Speaker 2: and North America were mostly using some kind of pad

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00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:55,399
Speaker 2: made of flannel or woven cloth, often homemade, which was

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00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:58,880
Speaker 2: meant to be washed and reused. Then, in the late

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00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:03,080
Speaker 2: nineteenth century, companies started making and selling disposable pads.

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Speaker 1: One of the first was released by Johnson and Johnson

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Speaker 1: in eighteen eighty seven, and it was called Lister's Towels

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00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:14,200
Speaker 1: Sanitary Napkins for Ladies. Joseph Lister did not have anything

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00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:18,560
Speaker 1: to do with this. His name was just associated with hygiene.

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00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:20,679
Speaker 1: This pad had loops at each end that could be

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00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:24,160
Speaker 1: threaded through a belt to hold it in place. Even

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00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:27,160
Speaker 1: with the Lister name, though, these did not sell very well,

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00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:30,320
Speaker 1: and that's attributed to how much stigma there was about

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00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:34,600
Speaker 1: menstruation and people's reluctance to buy something that was obviously

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00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:36,280
Speaker 1: for use during their periods.

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00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:42,240
Speaker 2: For decades after this, commercially made pads followed this same

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00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:46,359
Speaker 2: basic model. There was something absorbent that would be attached

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00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:49,680
Speaker 2: to a belt with loops or clips or buttons or hooks.

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00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:55,080
Speaker 2: That absorbent material improved during World War One alongside wound

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00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:59,040
Speaker 2: dressings that were being used on the battlefield. Some sources

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00:20:59,119 --> 00:21:03,679
Speaker 2: attribute part of this evolution to nurses using these dressings

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00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:07,760
Speaker 2: as pads. A big innovation during this time was cell

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00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:11,000
Speaker 2: you cotton, which was a cottony material made from cellulose.

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00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:15,720
Speaker 2: So the shift to disposable, commercially made pads around the

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00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:19,639
Speaker 2: turn of the twentieth century was simultaneously driven by the

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00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:23,480
Speaker 2: hygiene movement, industrialization, and warfare.

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Speaker 1: While these pads were usually more absorbent than layers of

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00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:31,360
Speaker 1: flannel or another cloth, they were still a lot bulkier

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00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:34,520
Speaker 1: than most of today's commercial pads, and the belts had

354
00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:38,880
Speaker 1: a number of issues. Many of them were similarly bulky

355
00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:42,240
Speaker 1: and just uncomfortable to wear. Some of them were sold

356
00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:44,960
Speaker 1: by size, and they weren't really adjustable, so they could

357
00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,480
Speaker 1: become too big or too small if somebody's weight fluctuated

358
00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:51,880
Speaker 1: during their period, which is absolutely normal in the case

359
00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:54,879
Speaker 1: for a lot of people. A lot of designs also

360
00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:58,159
Speaker 1: didn't really work well if someone was moving around a lot.

361
00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:01,000
Speaker 1: The pad was sort of suspended in the same place

362
00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:04,720
Speaker 1: all the time, regardless of whether someone was standing or

363
00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:08,119
Speaker 1: sitting or bending over, so when a person moved in

364
00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:10,920
Speaker 1: the pad didn't, it might not be in the right

365
00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:13,880
Speaker 1: place to absorb the blood anymore, and it could also

366
00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:16,800
Speaker 1: just bunch up uncomfortably under a person's clothing.

367
00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:22,479
Speaker 2: Beatrice's invention addressed a lot of these issues. It was,

368
00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:26,359
Speaker 2: in the words of her patent quote, extremely simple and construction,

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00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:31,800
Speaker 2: easy to use, adjustable for various sized persons, well adapted

370
00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:36,919
Speaker 2: for its intended purpose, and very inexpensive to manufacture. It

371
00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:39,600
Speaker 2: was so compact and so inexpensive that it could be

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00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:44,040
Speaker 2: included along with the pad in the dispensers in public places.

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00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:48,560
Speaker 2: In addition to being adjustable, it included adhesive portions for

374
00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:51,800
Speaker 2: attaching the pad, and it was designed so that the

375
00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:54,879
Speaker 2: pad could slide back and forth, so it held the

376
00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:58,640
Speaker 2: pad snugly against the body, and as the wearer moved around,

377
00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:01,199
Speaker 2: the pad would slide along the middle part of the

378
00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:03,760
Speaker 2: belt and move with them so it stayed in the

379
00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:08,440
Speaker 2: right place. According to Beatrice's interviews, there was a company

380
00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:13,240
Speaker 2: interested in bringing this sanitary belt to market. Various articles

381
00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:16,760
Speaker 2: say it was the sun nap Pack Company. That first

382
00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:21,520
Speaker 2: part is spelled s NN, but this is probably a misspelling.

383
00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:24,800
Speaker 2: It's a name that only seems to exist in articles

384
00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:26,159
Speaker 2: about Beatrice Kenner.

385
00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:31,119
Speaker 1: On the other hand, san Nappack spelled sa N and

386
00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:34,639
Speaker 1: later called Doe Skin Products was a real company that

387
00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:39,560
Speaker 1: made things like facial tissue and cellulose sanitary napkins. In

388
00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:42,800
Speaker 1: Beatrice's account, someone from the company came to meet with

389
00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:46,160
Speaker 1: her and was obviously startled when they realized she was black,

390
00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:50,760
Speaker 1: and at that point they immediately lost interest. In nineteen

391
00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:54,360
Speaker 1: sixty nine, Beatrice was awarded US patent two eight eight

392
00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:58,200
Speaker 1: one seven six' one for an improvement on this. Design

393
00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:02,560
Speaker 1: it still featured an adjustable waste belts and attachments that

394
00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:05,800
Speaker 1: allowed the pad to move around with the. Wearer the

395
00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:09,440
Speaker 1: improvement was the attachment for the. Pad this time it

396
00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:13,800
Speaker 1: was a moisture proof pocket to help prevent. Leaks neither

397
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:17,280
Speaker 1: Of Beatrice kenner's sanitary belt designs was ever brought to,

398
00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:21,199
Speaker 1: market and her patents expired in nineteen seventy. Three in

399
00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:24,919
Speaker 1: nineteen seventy, six a number of sources kind of make

400
00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:27,880
Speaker 1: it sound like manufacturers just jumped on her design once

401
00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:30,879
Speaker 1: her patents had, expired but that's not really the. Case

402
00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:35,720
Speaker 1: by the nineteen, seventies manufacturers were moving away from sanitary

403
00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:38,719
Speaker 1: belts thanks to the development of adhesives that could keep

404
00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:42,040
Speaker 1: a pad attached to a person's underwear without damaging that

405
00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:45,720
Speaker 1: underwear when the pad was. Removed the first adhesive pads

406
00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:49,879
Speaker 1: were introduced in nineteen sixty, nine And kenner's first patent

407
00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:53,240
Speaker 1: did involve an, adhesive but the adhesive itself was not

408
00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:54,240
Speaker 1: described in that.

409
00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:58,640
Speaker 2: Patent by the time her patents, expired there were also other,

410
00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:04,720
Speaker 2: modern commercial made options for menstrual, protection including tampons and menstrul.

411
00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:09,439
Speaker 2: Cups both of these had already existed in some form before,

412
00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:13,960
Speaker 2: that but they were introduced as manufactured consumer products in

413
00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:17,399
Speaker 2: the nineteen. Thirties tampons took a while to catch on

414
00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:21,359
Speaker 2: because of concerns about safety and, hygiene and stigma and

415
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:25,000
Speaker 2: misconceptions around the concept of, virginity but by the seventies

416
00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:28,360
Speaker 2: tampons were widely available and they had become a lot more.

417
00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:32,560
Speaker 2: Popular menstrul cups also didn't really catch on, immediately but

418
00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:37,080
Speaker 2: they have had a resurgence in more recent. Years Beatrice

419
00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:40,480
Speaker 2: kenner's next patent has a connection to her. Sister so

420
00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:42,880
Speaker 2: we're going to take another sponsor break and then hop

421
00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:55,760
Speaker 2: over To mildred's story for a. Bit, earlier we talked about,

422
00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:59,879
Speaker 2: how while still a, Teen Mildred davidson had started performing

423
00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:04,040
Speaker 2: as a singer with her. Siblings she described singing as

424
00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:08,080
Speaker 2: being in her. Blood after she graduated From Dunbar High,

425
00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:10,520
Speaker 2: school she wasn't really sure what she wanted to do

426
00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:12,639
Speaker 2: with her, life and she took a little time trying

427
00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:16,520
Speaker 2: to figure it. Out after she decided to make music her,

428
00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:20,120
Speaker 2: career she enrolled At Howard University school Of, music which

429
00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:23,960
Speaker 2: is now part Of Howard's CHADWICK. A Bosman college Of Fine.

430
00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:27,240
Speaker 2: Arts she studied there for about two and a half,

431
00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:29,640
Speaker 2: years and while she was still in, college she also

432
00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:33,280
Speaker 2: started touring as a. Singer as we mentioned, earlier On

433
00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:36,159
Speaker 2: january twenty, ninth nineteen thirty, eight just a couple of

434
00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:39,720
Speaker 2: days before her twenty second, Birthday mildred got married To

435
00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:44,480
Speaker 2: Ralph Edward, austin and they had two, Sons ronald And Ralph.

436
00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:48,439
Speaker 2: Junior Ralph senior was a, minister and he seems to

437
00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:52,199
Speaker 2: have had similar opinions About mildred's musical career to the

438
00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:55,960
Speaker 2: ones that her, Father sidney. Had mildred was offered the

439
00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:58,520
Speaker 2: chance to audition for the role Of carmen in an

440
00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:02,000
Speaker 2: all black staging of that, opera But ralph objected to

441
00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:05,879
Speaker 2: the idea of her playing that, role basically Describing carmen

442
00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:09,560
Speaker 2: as having low. Morals So mildred didn't do, it and

443
00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,920
Speaker 2: that was something she expressed regret about. Later at some,

444
00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:15,720
Speaker 2: Point mildred And ralph, divorced and by the time her

445
00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:19,040
Speaker 2: father died in nineteen fifty, six she had Married Ray.

446
00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:24,440
Speaker 2: Smith that marriage eventually ended in divorce as. Well mildred

447
00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:28,280
Speaker 2: did keep, singing though in addition to her solo performances

448
00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:32,680
Speaker 2: she performed with The National Negro Opera. Company she also

449
00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:35,639
Speaker 2: sang in a number of church choirs and eventually became

450
00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:39,280
Speaker 2: choir director At Tabor Presbyterian church In, washington d.

451
00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:44,040
Speaker 1: C like her, Sister mildred was a federal, employee also

452
00:27:44,119 --> 00:27:47,600
Speaker 1: working at The General Accounting. Office she left THE goo

453
00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:50,119
Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty one at the age of forty, five

454
00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:54,600
Speaker 1: because she was experiencing disabling physical symptoms that were affecting

455
00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:58,880
Speaker 1: her ability to, work and these symptoms also affected her musical.

456
00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:03,679
Speaker 1: Career she was diagnosed with multiple spleurosis in nineteen sixty.

457
00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:08,000
Speaker 2: FOUR ms is believed to be an autoimmune. Disease it

458
00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:11,679
Speaker 2: involves the body's immune system attacking the milind sheath that

459
00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:15,919
Speaker 2: protects the nerve. FIBERS a person's exact symptoms depend on

460
00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:19,800
Speaker 2: which nerves are, affected so these symptoms can include things

461
00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:24,480
Speaker 2: like numbness and, tingling a lack of, coordination blindness and

462
00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:29,399
Speaker 2: other visual, disturbances, dizziness slurred speech and, mood and cognitive.

463
00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:34,359
Speaker 2: Changes most people WITH ms have a type known as relapsing,

464
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:38,320
Speaker 2: remitting in which a person experiences cycles of symptom flare

465
00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:42,360
Speaker 2: ups followed by periods of relative, remission and this was

466
00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:46,720
Speaker 2: the case For. Mildred after her, Diagnosis mildred became a

467
00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:51,320
Speaker 2: spokesperson for people WITH, ms holding educational lectures for women's

468
00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:55,000
Speaker 2: clubs and other groups about the. Disease she also worked

469
00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:58,880
Speaker 2: with The outreach chapter of The National Multiple Sclerosis, society

470
00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:02,400
Speaker 2: which had been established as advancement of research on multiple.

471
00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:06,360
Speaker 2: Sclerosis in nineteen forty, six she also did one on

472
00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:09,440
Speaker 2: one outreach to other people WITH ms and their. Families

473
00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:13,960
Speaker 2: As MILDRED'S ms, progressed she started using a walker for,

474
00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:17,840
Speaker 2: mobility and in nineteen seventy, six her Sister beatrice was

475
00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:21,520
Speaker 2: AWARDED us patent three nine five seven zero seven to,

476
00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:26,040
Speaker 2: one which was. QUOTE a carrier attachment including a rigid

477
00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:30,240
Speaker 2: tray section and a pocket section is suspended by connecting

478
00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:33,600
Speaker 2: straps from one side of the top. Frame the tray

479
00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:37,640
Speaker 2: section can be swung to operative position above and supported

480
00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:41,160
Speaker 2: by the top frame. Member this was both a pocket

481
00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:45,400
Speaker 2: and a. Tray the background section of this patent notes

482
00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:50,000
Speaker 2: that while walkers provided a stable supporting structure and valuable

483
00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:53,680
Speaker 2: mobility assistance to people who used, them their shape and

484
00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:57,440
Speaker 2: their structure also limited a person's ability to hold and

485
00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:01,280
Speaker 2: carry things that they might. Need so this device worked

486
00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:05,080
Speaker 2: with a structural frame design that was really commonly used

487
00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:07,920
Speaker 2: among most of the walkers of the, era and it

488
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:11,000
Speaker 2: provided both a way to carry things and a flat

489
00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:14,920
Speaker 2: surface to put things on when. Needed by this point

490
00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:17,959
Speaker 2: In beatrice's, life she And jabbo had moved To McLean.

491
00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:21,720
Speaker 2: Virginia beatrice had left her job with the federal government

492
00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:25,240
Speaker 2: after a series of experiences in which white people with

493
00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:29,239
Speaker 2: less experience were promoted over. Her she had opened her

494
00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:32,280
Speaker 2: own flower, shop eventually operating five of them in and

495
00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:35,880
Speaker 2: around The, WASHINGTON dc. Area this is something else that

496
00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:38,880
Speaker 2: the sisters had in. Common mildred had also run her

497
00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:41,800
Speaker 2: own flower, shop and later in, life ran the flower

498
00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:45,480
Speaker 2: shop for her, Church Shiloh Baptist, church which named her

499
00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:49,719
Speaker 2: Its woman of The year in nineteen eighty. One mildred

500
00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:53,760
Speaker 2: started developing her invention around the same time That beatrice

501
00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:59,080
Speaker 2: was patenting that walker carrier. Attachment during a particularly BAD ms,

502
00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:02,320
Speaker 2: Flare mildred wasn't able to leave her, bed and she

503
00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:05,000
Speaker 2: said that during that time she thought a lot about

504
00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:07,200
Speaker 2: her family and how good they had been to, her

505
00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:10,720
Speaker 2: and also what a big family it, was and how

506
00:31:10,760 --> 00:31:13,040
Speaker 2: hard it could be to keep up with how everyone

507
00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:17,440
Speaker 2: was related to everyone. Else this became the inspiration for

508
00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:22,520
Speaker 2: a board game Called Family. Traditions Family traditions involved a

509
00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:25,960
Speaker 2: set of playing, cards each of them labeled and illustrated

510
00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:29,720
Speaker 2: with a family member or a family. Relationship cards were

511
00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:32,320
Speaker 2: shuffled and dealt to the players who used sets of

512
00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:35,800
Speaker 2: three cards to fill in family relationships on a game,

513
00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:39,480
Speaker 2: board such as my mother's son is my, brother but

514
00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:44,280
Speaker 2: also more distant relationships like third and fourth. Cousins players

515
00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:47,280
Speaker 2: got points for each relationship they created on the, board

516
00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:51,040
Speaker 2: with different family members and relationships earning different numbers of,

517
00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:54,400
Speaker 2: points but they lost points for any cards left over

518
00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:57,320
Speaker 2: in their hand at the end of the. Game mildred

519
00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:00,280
Speaker 2: was AWARDED us patent for two three zero three two

520
00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:03,680
Speaker 2: one on this game In october of nineteen eighty and

521
00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:06,720
Speaker 2: she also trademarks the name and logo and registered the

522
00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:11,160
Speaker 2: copyright on the game. Rules mildred borrowed some money From

523
00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:14,640
Speaker 2: beatrice so that she could publish this game, herself selling

524
00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:18,040
Speaker 2: out of the first printing of one hundred. Copies she

525
00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:21,280
Speaker 2: followed this with another run of five hundred more copies

526
00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:24,800
Speaker 2: of the. Game she also created a braille, edition and

527
00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:27,760
Speaker 2: in nineteen eighty, two she told a reporter that her

528
00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:29,960
Speaker 2: dream was for her game to become as big As

529
00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:32,840
Speaker 2: monopoly and allow her to start a company of her

530
00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:37,360
Speaker 2: own that she would staff with other disabled. People On

531
00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:41,360
Speaker 2: october nineteenth of nineteen eighty, Two beatrice was AWARDED us

532
00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:44,920
Speaker 2: patent four three five four six' four to three bathroom.

533
00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:48,520
Speaker 2: Tissue holder this was a device that could attach to

534
00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:51,920
Speaker 2: a person's existing toilet paper holder on, the wall which

535
00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:54,080
Speaker 2: would always keep the free out of the toilet, paper

536
00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:57,440
Speaker 2: available so you didn't have to spin the roll around hunting.

537
00:32:57,480 --> 00:32:59,160
Speaker 2: For it this looked a.

538
00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:01,400
Speaker 1: Little like a short ladder with hooks at, one end

539
00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:04,320
Speaker 1: which could attach to the rod on. The holder the

540
00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:06,760
Speaker 1: free end of the toilet paper would then be threaded

541
00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:10,680
Speaker 1: through the bottom two rungs of. The Ladder on, december

542
00:33:10,760 --> 00:33:16,280
Speaker 1: thirteenth nineteen, Eighty three, Beatrice's husband jabbo died after retiring

543
00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:18,760
Speaker 1: as director Of the Boys And. Girls club he had

544
00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:22,120
Speaker 1: continued to volunteer with young People, in washington. D c

545
00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:25,200
Speaker 1: and in the other places where He and. Beatrice lived

546
00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:28,920
Speaker 1: there are still youth leagues and facilities in the area

547
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:33,240
Speaker 1: named after. Him today in nineteen, Eighty four beatrice became

548
00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:36,520
Speaker 1: ill and she needed. An ambulance she was living In

549
00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:40,040
Speaker 1: the kingshill Area, Of, williamsburg virginia where She and jabo

550
00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:43,720
Speaker 1: had moved a few years before. His death she was,

551
00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:46,920
Speaker 1: ultimately fine but it took a while for the ambulance

552
00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:49,800
Speaker 1: to get to her because of. Traffic congestion around The

553
00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:53,120
Speaker 1: Nearby bush gardens, theme park and this prompted her to

554
00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:56,160
Speaker 1: write a letter To The Newport News daily press proposing

555
00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:59,240
Speaker 1: a solution that an emergency lane be built in the

556
00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:03,120
Speaker 1: grassy media Area of, route sixty which Ran Past. Bush

557
00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:06,600
Speaker 1: gardens she wrote that this would allow emergency vehicles to

558
00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:10,640
Speaker 1: respond faster and also prevent lawsuits against the county in

559
00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:13,520
Speaker 1: the amusement park if people died or lost their homes

560
00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:17,640
Speaker 1: to a fire because emergency vehicles couldn't. Get through she

561
00:34:17,719 --> 00:34:20,280
Speaker 1: handed her letter to the, EDITOR quote i am aware

562
00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:23,640
Speaker 1: that this has been recognized as a. Problem, area however

563
00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:26,560
Speaker 1: recognition solves no problems and saves.

564
00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:31,280
Speaker 2: No lives in nineteen, Eighty seven beatrice was issued another

565
00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:35,480
Speaker 2: patent number four six nine six zero Six eight shower

566
00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:39,680
Speaker 2: wall and bathtub. Mounted backwasher this is a pad of

567
00:34:39,760 --> 00:34:43,400
Speaker 2: foam covered in terrycloth mounted to a rigid plate that

568
00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:46,160
Speaker 2: could be stuck to the shower wall with. Suction cups

569
00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:49,200
Speaker 2: it had a pouch for a bar of, soap quote

570
00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:51,799
Speaker 2: so that a person taking a shower or bath can

571
00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:55,319
Speaker 2: position their back or any other inaccessible area of their

572
00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:58,439
Speaker 2: body against the surface of the terry cloth or other

573
00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:02,120
Speaker 2: fabric cover by my removing the body area engaged with

574
00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:05,400
Speaker 2: the cover provide a washing or massaging function on the

575
00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:09,279
Speaker 2: surface area of. The body the fabric elements of this

576
00:35:09,360 --> 00:35:12,120
Speaker 2: invention were all removable so that they could. Be laundered

577
00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:16,760
Speaker 2: it's not documented anywhere whether the backwasher and the toilet

578
00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:19,759
Speaker 2: paper holder came About because beatrice was trying To make

579
00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:23,040
Speaker 2: mildred's home, more accessible but it's certainly within the realm.

580
00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:28,000
Speaker 2: Of possibility sometime after this last patent, Was awarded beatrice

581
00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:32,200
Speaker 2: also finished writing, an autobiography which she Titled It Burned

582
00:35:32,239 --> 00:35:35,680
Speaker 2: my body but Not My soul And to tracy's knowledge,

583
00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:40,480
Speaker 2: in mind this was. Never PUBLISHED. Mildred e smith died At,

584
00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:44,160
Speaker 2: her washington. D c Home on, january thirtieth nineteen, ninety

585
00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:48,320
Speaker 2: three at the age of. Seventy seven beatrice kept inventing

586
00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:51,040
Speaker 2: things to the rest of, her life although she didn't

587
00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:54,160
Speaker 2: patent any. Of them in, her eighties she worked on

588
00:35:54,200 --> 00:35:57,680
Speaker 2: a protective device for seat belts that She called nicholas

589
00:35:57,840 --> 00:35:59,960
Speaker 2: to keep the belt from biting into a. Person's neck

590
00:36:00,719 --> 00:36:02,640
Speaker 2: she said she really needed this because she was.

591
00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:05,640
Speaker 1: So short. SHOUT out i agree with HER because i

592
00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:08,279
Speaker 1: have the. Same problem some of the inventions she talked

593
00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:10,319
Speaker 1: about in the last couple of decades of her life

594
00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:12,880
Speaker 1: sound a bit more fanciful than the practical ones that

595
00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:16,360
Speaker 1: she was issued, patents on like a portable car garage

596
00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:19,919
Speaker 1: and a passenger airplane design that would eject debris away

597
00:36:19,920 --> 00:36:21,520
Speaker 1: from the passengers in the event of.

598
00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:26,920
Speaker 2: A Crash beatrice kenner Died on, january thirteenth two thousand,

599
00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:30,399
Speaker 2: and Six At sibley Hospital, in WASHINGTON. D c at

600
00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:30,920
Speaker 2: the age of.

601
00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:35,919
Speaker 1: Ninety three various Sources Say beatrice kenner was awarded more

602
00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:39,440
Speaker 1: patents than any other black WOMAN in, us history but

603
00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:44,000
Speaker 1: that's almost impossible, to substantiate since patent applications don't include

604
00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:47,960
Speaker 1: a disclosure of a. Person's race in, some ways this

605
00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:50,840
Speaker 1: leveled the playing field for, black inventors who could file

606
00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:54,440
Speaker 1: patent applications themselves or with the help of attorneys at

607
00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:57,799
Speaker 1: a time when racism would have kept them from accessing.

608
00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:02,279
Speaker 1: Other institutions at the, same time the patent process was

609
00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:06,480
Speaker 1: still influenced by the same systemic patterns of discrimination as

610
00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:10,480
Speaker 1: everything else In The. United states patenting and invention still,

611
00:37:10,520 --> 00:37:13,680
Speaker 1: cost money and so did defending a patent, in court

612
00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:16,480
Speaker 1: and there's been racial bias in the courtroom for the

613
00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:20,359
Speaker 1: entire history Of The. United states it, is, clear Though

614
00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:24,480
Speaker 1: that Mildred and beatrice were, both creative innovative women who

615
00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:28,719
Speaker 1: both were very savvy about protecting their inventions, through, patents trademarks.

616
00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:30,920
Speaker 1: AND copyright i.

617
00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:31,640
Speaker 2: Kind of love both.

618
00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:33,040
Speaker 1: Of, them yeah they're. Pretty.

619
00:37:33,040 --> 00:37:38,120
Speaker 2: GREAT uh i kept just stumbling onto new THINGS that i, Was,

620
00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:38,440
Speaker 2: like oh.

621
00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:39,919
Speaker 1: THAT'S delightful.

622
00:37:41,200 --> 00:37:44,160
Speaker 2: I also have listener mail about something, else delightful which.

623
00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:46,919
Speaker 1: Is, Pens, oh pens we. Love.

624
00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:50,160
Speaker 2: You yeah this Came. From trish, TRISH wrote i love

625
00:37:50,239 --> 00:37:53,239
Speaker 2: listening to, your show especially the episodes about people and

626
00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:56,920
Speaker 2: TOPICS that i would never look. Into myself my favorite

627
00:37:56,920 --> 00:37:58,759
Speaker 2: shows are the ones that dig into topics that are

628
00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:02,360
Speaker 2: often considered boring to and make. Them interesting you do

629
00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:04,880
Speaker 2: that very well and make my days much. More interesting

630
00:38:04,920 --> 00:38:07,960
Speaker 2: i've developed a habit of spouting random bits of trivia. And.

631
00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:11,680
Speaker 2: CONVERSATIONS though i was so happy when this week's topic,

632
00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:15,319
Speaker 2: was pens even if the focus was. BALLPOINT pens i

633
00:38:15,400 --> 00:38:18,920
Speaker 2: decided to start Journaling in december of. Twenty nineteen this

634
00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:21,920
Speaker 2: turned out to be a. GOOD idea i started going

635
00:38:21,920 --> 00:38:25,520
Speaker 2: through so many, pens gelpins MOSTLY that i felt guilty

636
00:38:25,560 --> 00:38:28,640
Speaker 2: about the. Plastic WASTE when i search for something more,

637
00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:32,640
Speaker 2: ENVIRONMENTALLY friendly i fell down the rabbit hole of fountain pen.

638
00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:36,759
Speaker 2: Collection culture you can spend a lot of money on.

639
00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:39,759
Speaker 2: One pen luckily, for me you can also get some

640
00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:43,080
Speaker 2: decent ones for less than twenty. FIVE dollars i grew

641
00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:45,320
Speaker 2: up down the road from one of the main cross

642
00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:48,359
Speaker 2: pen Factories In, rhode island and my dad carried one

643
00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:50,719
Speaker 2: of their fountain pens every day for as LONG as i.

644
00:38:50,719 --> 00:38:53,840
Speaker 2: Can remember when he retired a little early in, twenty

645
00:38:53,880 --> 00:38:56,799
Speaker 2: twenty he gave me that pen EVERY time i, use

646
00:38:56,840 --> 00:38:58,719
Speaker 2: it which is pretty much EVERY day i think. OF

647
00:38:58,800 --> 00:39:02,680
Speaker 2: him a good fountain can last. For generations as, a

648
00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:04,600
Speaker 2: tip if you don't live near one of the few

649
00:39:04,640 --> 00:39:08,160
Speaker 2: places that still specialize in fountain pens and have trouble WITH,

650
00:39:08,200 --> 00:39:12,239
Speaker 2: the nib a jeweler can often help. Fix it, pun intended.

651
00:39:12,520 --> 00:39:15,880
Speaker 2: Not sorry thank you again for finding and sharing all

652
00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:19,200
Speaker 2: the interesting things behind. Everyday topics as a, pet tax

653
00:39:19,239 --> 00:39:22,080
Speaker 2: here is My, dog penny who seems to have melted in,

654
00:39:22,080 --> 00:39:25,359
Speaker 2: the heat and my feisty but Dumbed, turtle gulliver who

655
00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:27,640
Speaker 2: sometimes tries to get off her rock in the wrong

656
00:39:27,719 --> 00:39:31,319
Speaker 2: direction and needs to. Be. Rescued trish thank you, So

657
00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:37,319
Speaker 2: much trish for this email and for. These pictures we.

658
00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:38,120
Speaker 1: Have a picture of.

659
00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:47,200
Speaker 2: A turtle this turtle appears to, be sideways not quite

660
00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:51,320
Speaker 2: the direction that the turtle should. Be oriented, and, also

661
00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:56,360
Speaker 2: yes a puppy dog doing the thing where they stretch

662
00:39:56,400 --> 00:39:59,160
Speaker 2: out with as much of them, as possible touching the

663
00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:04,279
Speaker 2: floor where. It's cool the. Swoop yep thank you So

664
00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:09,480
Speaker 2: much trish for. This Email maybe i'll give fountain pens

665
00:40:09,600 --> 00:40:13,200
Speaker 2: another go someday and SEE if i can find one

666
00:40:13,239 --> 00:40:16,360
Speaker 2: with a nib that does not feel unpleasant to me to,

667
00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:20,040
Speaker 2: write with because that was my big. Stumbling block if

668
00:40:20,040 --> 00:40:21,880
Speaker 2: you would like to send us a note about this

669
00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:25,359
Speaker 2: or any, other podcast We're At history podcasts at iHeartRadio

670
00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:29,400
Speaker 2: dot com and you can subscribe to our show on

671
00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:32,359
Speaker 2: the iHeartRadio app and. Anywhere else too late to get.

672
00:40:32,360 --> 00:40:40,360
Speaker 2: Your podcasts stuff you Missed In history class is a Production.

673
00:40:40,520 --> 00:40:45,360
Speaker 2: Of iHeartRadio for more Podcasts, from iHeartRadio visit the, iHeartRadio App,

674
00:40:45,440 --> 00:40:48,640
Speaker 2: apple podcasts or wherever you listen to your. Favorite shows