Thomas Jennings’s 1821 patent for a dry cleaning process is the first confirmed patent granted to a Black American.

It is notable precisely because of its early date — it demonstrates that Black Americans were participating in the patent system from its early years — and because of the broader context in which it was granted.

Jennings was a free Black man in New York City, and his dry cleaning business was apparently successful enough to fund his family’s purchase of freedom and to support his participation in abolitionist activities.

His patent was his property, and the fruits of his intellectual work enriched him and his family.