Women’s History Month, celebrated annually throughout March, is a time to recognise and honour the invaluable contributions women have made across the world. This month serves as the perfect opportunity to reflect on some remarkable female inventors whose contributions have left a lasting mark on society.
Women’s History Month, celebrated annually throughout March, is a time to recognise and honour the invaluable contributions women have made across the world. While their impact has profoundly shaped history, their achievements often went unrecognised until relatively recently. As early as 1995, Autumn Stanley highlighted in her book Mothers and Daughters of Invention: Notes for a Revised History of Technology that existing databases lacked sufficient information about female inventors and their contributions—an issue not seen to the same extent with male inventors. While progress has been made, gaps in recognition still exist today, making Women’s History Month an important time to celebrate these contributions.
This month serves as the perfect opportunity to reflect on some remarkable female inventors whose contributions have left a lasting mark on society.
1. Dr Shirley Jackson
At a time when women were denied equal opportunity to study and work, African American women succeeded in contributing to science and technology. Shirley Ann Jackson was the first African American woman to earn a doctorate. With her vision and pragmatism in lab, she later helmed a major research university. Her discoveries paved the way for others to develop the portable fax, touch-tone phones, solar cells, fiber optic cables, and the technology that makes caller ID and call waiting possible
2. Maria Telkes
The Hungarian chemist Maria Telkes, known as the Solar Queen, developed the first solar heating system for the Dover Sun House in the late 1940s. She overcame the gender biases to experiment for decades and received 50 patents for her inventions.
3. Elizabeth Maggie
Elizabeth Maggie (Lizzie) was the brain behind the first version revolutionary business board game - Monopoly. The game originally developed by Lizzie was named “The Landlord’s Game” for which she received a patent in 1904. This was later customised to form the board game named Monopoly, but Lizzie never got the credits. Lizzy Maggie’s contribution to the game was forgotten, and the credit went to a man- Charles Darrow, who had simply come across it at a friend’s house. Darrow continued to receive royalties throughout his life.
All these inventions highlight the need to rethink the old saying, “Success has many fathers, but we remember only one,” as it overlooks the role of success’ mothers.