The Little-Known Story Of Mary Kenner, The First Black American Woman To Earn Five Patents
The fact that both Mary Kenner and her sister Mildred Davidson Smith held United States patents is not a footnote to the story of Mary Kenner — it is one of the most revealing details in the entire account.
Mildred’s patent was U.S.
Patent 3,521,902, granted in 1970 for a game: a family board and card game she had designed.
The game patent is a different category from Mary’s practical invention patents, but it is a patent nonetheless — a documented, legal acknowledgment that Mildred Davidson Smith had created something novel and worthy of protection.
Two daughters of Sidney Davidson, who himself held a patent.
Three patents across two generations of a single family.