DID YOU KNOW? for March 15 - 28, 2022:  

Did You Know… Ellen Eglin, born in Washington, D.C in 1849, worked as a government clerk, and for a while as a housekeeper. However she earned a place in history books as the inventor in of the clothes wringer, a laundry aid that used 2 rollers and a crank handle to squeeze out excess water and noticeably sped-up clothes washing and drying in the late 19th century.

As a Black woman, Eglin couldn’t get a patent on her own in 1888, so she sold the rights to her invention to an agent for just $18, and made no further profit from her brainchild. In an 1891 interview Eglin indicated another reason she didn’t try for a patent on her invention, saying, “…if it was known that a negro woman patented the invention, white ladies would not buy the wringer.”

Eglin’s wringer design was later manufactured and very successfully marketed for decades by the American Wringer Company.

Learn more…

https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/people-african-american-history/ellen-eglin-1849/