Ellen Eglin was born in 1849 in Washington DC. While living in DC, Eglin made her living as a housekeeper and a government clerk. However, in 1891 Eglin invented a clothes wringer , a machine that pressed out access water. 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 was not a lot of ways to wash clothes other than with your hands. Therefore, this was an amazing invention and a concept that would have taken Ellen Eglin far. However, instead of pursuing this invention she decided to sell her patent and idea to a “disputable agent.” When asked in a report by the Women Inventor why she sold her patent she said that “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.” Eglin knew to week that people would not buy her product do to preconceived notions of race. Therefore, she never gave herself the opportunity to be put into that situation and instead sold her invention for $18 which was not worth that much during the 1800s. However, the person she sold the patents to was able to make a subsequent amount of money due to the relevancy of this project. Although Eglin sold her first invention and its patents she, at the time was still working on a different invention. 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.”[1] Upon completing this invention and receiving her patent she planned on showcasing her model to the Woman’s International Industrial Inventors Congress. However, her pattern never was published or patented. In fact, there is no information that she ever created this invention. As an African American woman Eglin was in a rare position as an inventor because she was one of the few black women inventors. Eglin was one of the first black female inventors and set the stage for later inventors such as Madam C.J. Walker, the inventor of a hair brand for black females, as well as Sarah Boone, the inventor of the ironing board. Eglin was one of the founding women who made it easier for the inventions of a black women to be accepted into society and into the homes of the white patron. Although, Eglin is a famous inventors there is still a lot of information that could not be found on her life, like that of her birth parents and her final resting place. When Eglin sold away the rights to her inventions she in a sense also became more an obscure person rather than the main inventor known by many and put in the history book. Due to the lack of information about her life many people have formed their own ideas on the effects that her decisions as well as well as her past life.
Sources:
Sluby, Patricia (2004). The Inventive Spirit of African Americans. Connecticut: Prseger Publisher. p. 128.