Dear Gabby,
My name is Rylan, and I’m 13 years old. I get picked on a lot by the boys and girls that I know. They ridicule me because of my growing interest of becoming an inventor. An inventor of what, I do not know, yet. I find myself always questioning the mechanics of things. I know this all sounds silly for a girl, but I have to know how things are made and how they do the things that they do. I’ll take things apart just to see how they work, only to put them back together again. Anyway, I could use some advice. What should I do? I’m tired of being the class oddball.
Sincerely,
Rylan
Dear Rylan,
You are truly an inspiration! Don’t you dare stop being inquisitive. It’s time to revisit the past and load your mind with educational ammunition so that you can stop all your friends deflating comments.
Fact 1. Margaret (Mattie) Knight was considered the mother of the grocery bag. She founded the Eastern Paper Bag Company in 1870. When she was 12 (count ‘em, girlfriend), 12 years old, she had an idea for a stop-motion device that could be used in textile mills to shut down machinery, preventing workers from being injured. Mattie eventually received 26 patents that are still in use today.
Fact 2. Sarah E. Goode, the first African-American woman to receive a U.S. patent, issued on July 14, 1885, for a cabinet bed. She was also the owner of a Chicago furniture store and designed numerous pieces.
Fact 3. Rachel Brown and Elizabeth Hazen invented Nystatin, the world’s first useful antifungal antibiotic. This drug was patented in 1957. It was used to cure many disfiguring, disabling fungal infections as well as to balance the effects of many antibacterial drugs. Nystatin is still being used today, and do you know what these two precious women did? With the royalties from their invention, over $13 MILLION, they donated to a nonprofit research corporation for the advancement of academic scientific studies. They were also inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1994. Talk about dedication!
Fact 4 and many more. Mary Anderson invented the windshield wiper. Patricia Billings invented an indestructible building material called Geobond. Bessie Blount invented a device to help disabled people eat with less difficulty. Dr. Betsy Ancker-Johnson was the third woman elected to the National Academy of Engineering and Inventors.
Rylan, all these women started somewhere, and that somewhere is just where you are today: Inquisitive, Determined and Focused. Don’t let your classmates bring you down. Pick yourself up and keep questioning everything around you. The female inventors of the past and future are rooting just for YOU!
Gabby
THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE April 17 ISSUE OF FOCUS SB - THE INQUISITOR.