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By Marie Van Brittan Brown
In the 1960s, Marie and her family lived in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, New York. At that time, crime rates were rising, and police response times were often too slow. As a nurse working irregular hours, Marie felt vulnerable when home alone. This real-world need for security and community protection drove her to devise a technological solution to monitor her door without having to open it.
The system patented in 1969 (U.S. Patent 3,482,037) was incredibly complex for its time. It featured a motorized camera that slid vertically to look through four different peepholes. The camera transmitted the image via radio waves to a television monitor inside the house. The system also included a microphone and speaker to communicate with the visitor, a remote-controlled lock, and an alarm button to alert the police immediately.
Marie Van Brittan Brown's impact is colossal: she created the foundations of a market that is now worth billions of dollars. Her design is the direct ancestor of video doorbells, residential CCTV, and home automation. Beyond the technical aspect, she has become an inspiring figure in STEM fields, proving that an African American woman could revolutionize a male-dominated industry.
Although her invention was not immediately mass-marketed due to high production costs at the time, her patent has been cited in 38 other patent applications as of 2024. Marie was honored by the New York Times upon receiving her patent, and her work is now exhibited in prestigious institutions like the Smithsonian Institution. She is globally recognized as the mother of modern home security.
