Jones, Martha
unknown · Contribution: 1868
Combined corn husking and shelling machine
Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Impact on the world
Possibly the first African-American woman to receive a U.S. patent, predating other commonly cited 'first' claims; her machine combined husking and shelling corn into a single mechanized process.
Life & background
An inventor from Amelia County, Virginia, Jones patented a machine in 1868 that combined corn husking and shelling into one mechanized process, a significant labor-saving innovation for farm work. Some historians consider her patent the earliest known U.S. patent granted to an African-American woman, predating other inventors more commonly credited with that distinction.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Commerce (Inventors Eye); Lemelson Foundation
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