The decline of cigarette smoking in the United States means that this specific invention has less contemporary relevance than some of her others.

But it represents a genuine contribution to a specific safety problem in its time, and it demonstrates the breadth of her inventive thinking.

The First African American Woman With Five Patents

The significance of the specific record that Mary Kenner holds — first African American woman to hold five patents — deserves careful consideration, because records of this type are both meaningful and complicated.

Records are meaningful because they capture specific historical firsts, moments at which boundaries were crossed or barriers were overcome for the first time.