Eglin, Ellen
1849-unknown · Contribution: 1888
Improved clothes-wringer design
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Impact on the world
Her clothes-wringer design improved washing efficiency, but fearing racial discrimination would prevent its commercial success, Eglin sold her patent rights for $18 to a white buyer, who is listed as the inventor of record.
Life & background
A Washington, D.C. housekeeper and government clerk, Eglin invented an improved clothes-wringer in 1888 that used adjustable gearing to control roller speed. Believing white buyers would refuse to purchase the product if they knew a Black woman had invented it, she sold her patent rights for just $18, telling a contemporary publication, 'I was afraid to be known because of my color.' She received no further profit from her invention.
Sources
- IPWatchdog; Stanford Law Review (Centering Black Women Inventors)
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