Alice H. Parker, Inventor (?)

Alice H. Parker is, indeed, a rare find. Not much biographical information was found on the Internet about her. Her biography is sometimes confused with that of another Alice Parker, a composer, arranger and conductor.

Alice Parker–the African-American inventor, that is–patented a gas-powered central heating furnace on December 23, 1919 (U.S. Patent 1,325,905).

External Links:

1. Alice H. Parker – True African American Heat (Parle Magazine)
2. Alice Parker History Beat: Now You Know (YouTube.com)
3. Alice Parker (theinventors.org)

References:

1. African-American Bibliography – Science & Medicine (University of Pennsylvania)
2. 2/21/03 Black History Month Special Report, Part III (UAW-Chrysler)

Marie Van Brittan Brown, Inventor (1922)

At the time of this writing, not much biographical information could be gathered about Marie Van Brittan Brown (October 30, 1922-February 2, 1999)¹, unfortunately. Notwithstanding, she has been credited for:

• inventing, with her partner, Albert Brown,² the “home security system utilizing television surveillance,”³ (the forerunner to the modern home security system)
• receiving United States Patent No. 3482037 in 1969 for the invention⁴

External Links:

1. Marie Van Brittan Brown: Home Security Inventions
2. African-American Inventors & Inventions: African Women Inventors
3. The Significance of the Burglar Alarm | eHow.com
4. HOME SECURITY SYSTEM UTILIZING TELEVISION SURVEILLANCE – Marie, Van Brittan Brown
5. Marie Van Brittan Brown @ Wikipedia
6. US Black Engineer & IT – Google Books (Google Books search)
7. Black Inventions In Daily Life by Matt Montague (US Black Engineer & IT)

References:

1. Marie Van Brittan Brown @ Wikipedia
2. Marie Van Brittan Brown: Home Security Inventions
3. HOME SECURITY SYSTEM UTILIZING TELEVISION SURVEILLANCE – Marie, Van Brittan Brown
4. ibid.
5. African-American Inventors & Inventions: African Women Inventors
6. The Significance of the Burglar Alarm | eHow.com

Valerie L. Thomas, Inventor (1943)

The honor of being this blog’s first featured personality goes to Valerie L. Thomas.

Two of Valerie L. Thomas’s notable contributions among many are:

• In 1980, she received a patent for her "illusion transmitter," which uses a concave mirror on the transmitting end as well as on the receiving end to produce optical illusion images. NASA uses the technology today, and scientists are currently working on ways to incorporate it into tools for surgeons to look inside the human body, and possibly for television sets and video screens one day.¹


• Project manager for the development of NASA’s image-processing system on Landsat, the first satellite to send images from outer space.²

External Links:

1. Valerie L. Thomas Retires


2. Inventor of the Week: Archive (mit.edu)


3. Valerie Thomas – Valerie Thomas and the Illusion Transmitter

References:

1. Inventor of the Week: Archive (mit.edu)


2. Valerie Thomas – Valerie Thomas and the Illusion Transmitter