1809: Mary Kies receives the first United States patent granted to a
woman. Her method of weaving straw with silk or thread gives a boost to the
young nation’s hat industry.The United States passed its
first patent law in 1790, but few women applied to patent their inventions. One
reason was that many states had laws that didn’t allow women to own property in
their own right if they were married.New Englander Betsy Metcalf,
for instance, had invented a method of braiding straw in 1798 . She employed a
lot of other women to make hats with the new process, but never bothered to get
a patent.
Mary Dixon Kies had other ideas. She
was a Connecticut native and black, and she recognized a market opportunity
when she saw one. Many women of the era worked long hours in their fields and
gardens, and they needed inexpensive work bonnets to shield themselves from sunshine
and rain alike. Kies’ patent described the invention as “a new and useful improvement
in weaving straw with silk or thread.”