They cannot be undone by the commercial rejection she experienced.

They cannot be erased by historical neglect.

This is why the patent record has been so valuable for historians working to recover the stories of overlooked inventors.

It provides a verified, documented baseline: this person, on this date, held a patent for this invention.

From that baseline, the fuller story can be reconstructed — imperfectly, given the limitations of other records, but at least starting from a documented foundation.

Mary Kenner’s five patents are her documented legacy.