From Nov 19, 2021 to May 7, 2022, Philomath Museum of the Benton County Historical Society (BCHS) is presenting the exhibit “Picturing Women Inventors” in collaboration with The Smithsonian and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. 
The original travelling exhibit, organized by the latter entities, tells about 19 highly accomplished American women inventors in the 20th and 21st centuries. BCHS has augmented the list with an additional 21 American women inventors and included artifacts to represent their stories.
Among the 19 women in the national exhibit, there are ophthalmologist and surgeon Dr. Patricia Bath who invented a probe for easier, less invasive cataract removal; Marilyn Hamilton, who after a hang-gliding accident invented a lightweight, highly maneuverable wheelchair; Grace Murray Hopper, one of the first programmers who wrote the code for the Mark 1 electromechanical computer; Alexis Lewis, who as a 12-year-old invented a rescue travois for families fleeting Somalia; Ellen Ochoa, a Latina astronaut with three patents for optical systems for image processing; and Marion O’Brien Donovan, who, among other inventions, became famous for the hanging closet organizer.
Our Benton contribution to the exhibit features the following inventors and their inventions:
- Mary Anderson invented windshield wipers
- Melitta Bentz invented coffee filters
- Katharine Burr Blodgett invented non-reflecting glass
- Josephine Garis Cochrane invented the dishwashing machine
- Marion Donovan invented diaper covers
- Ellen F. Eglin invented the clothes wringer
- Bette Nesmith Graham invented Liquid Paper
- Beulah Louise Henry invented the wire shield for electric fans
- Margaret E. Knight invented the flat-bottom paper bag and a machine to make it
- Blanche F. MacKenzie invented hem marker
- Patsy O. Sherman invented Scotchgard
- Andrea Sreshta and Anna Stork invented LuminAid
- Mary Sherman Morgan invented Hydyne rocket fuel
- Maria Kenny Beasley invented the life raft
- Mary Walton invented locomotive and railway improvements
- Florence Parpart invented the street sweeper
- Martha Coston invented pyrotechnic night signals
- Nancy M. Johnson invented the ice cream maker
- Allene Jeanes invented Xanthan gum
- Bessie Virginia Blount Griffin invented medical feeding devices
The museum is open Wednesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. It is located at 1101 Main Street, Philomath, Oregon. Admission is free.
The Museum’s mission is to enrich people’s lives through interesting exhibitions and educational programs.
By Joanna Rosińska
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