Mary Anderson
Even before Henry Ford received his patent in 1903 for the Model A, a woman, Mary Anderson had already invented the windshield wiper for a street car. In 1903 while on a trip to New York, Alabama born Mary Anderson noticed during a snow storm that the driver of the street car kept having to wipe away the snow from the windshield. Mary Anderson began designing a device to sweep aside the snow on the windshield that was operated by means of a lever, inside the streetcar. Anderson received a patent for her windshield wiper in 1903.
Greek Sea Goddess Nereis on Aquatic Transportation
References: Women Invent:Two centuries of Discoveries That Have Shaped Our Worldby Susan Casey (Chicago Review Press, 1997) pp. 9m 11.
Patently female by Ethlie Ann Vare and Greg Ptacek (John Wiley, 2002) p. 3, pp.12-20.
Web Sites:
Brief History of Women and Transportation
Mary Anderson Windshield Wiper Inventor
Mary Anderson
Who Invented the Windshield Wiper?
The Invention of the Windshield Wiper
Southern Belle With a Brain
History of Automobiles
OTHER INNOVATIONS AND INVENTIONS
