Personal
editEllen Eglin was born in 1849 in Washington D.C. While living in D.C., Eglin made her living as a housekeeper and a government clerk.
Her Invention
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In 1800s, she invented a clothes wringer, which was a machine that had two rollers in a frame that was connected to a crank. Clothes would be fed in between the two rollers and as the crank was turned the clothes would have the water pressed out of them. A clothes wringer was made from two wooden pins that are on top of each other with a crank attached to allow the pins to roll. This invention came at a time when there were not a lot of ways to wash clothes other than with your hands. Therefore, this was an amazing invention and concept. However, Eglin decided to sell her patent to a “white person interested in manufacturing the product.”[1] In an interview with Women Inventor, Eglin stated that she sold her patent for the following reason: “You know I am black and if it was known that a Negro woman patented the invention, white ladies would not buy the wringer. I was afraid to be known because of my color in having it introduced into the market that is the only reason.”[2] Eglin sold her invention for $18. However, the person she sold the patents to made more money. [3]
Later Work
editEglin worked on different inventions during her lifetime. She was funding this invention by herself and wanted a patent for it so that people could know that “the invention will be known as a black woman’s.”[4] She planned on patent and showcasing her model to the Woman’s International Industrial Inventors Congress. However, her invention never was published or patented. In fact, there is no information that she ever created this invention. Eglin was in a rare position as an inventor because she was one of only a few African American women inventors. She the stage for later inventors such as Madam C.J. Walker, as well as Sarah Boone. Although Eglin invention became very successful, there is still a lack of sources on the events that took place in her life.
Reference
edit[1] Otha Sullivan, Black Stars: African American Women Scientist and Inventors (Wiley, 1998), 7.
[2] Pamela Warrick, “Mothers of Invention,” Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA), SEP. 23, 1992.
[3] (Otha Sullivan, 7)
[4] Patricia Sluby (2004). The Inventive Spirit of African Americans. Connecticut: Prseger Publisher. p. 128.