A Woman to Know: Mary Kies

With the patent to Mary Kies, women could now protect both the originality and the integrity of their creations. — Paul D. Buchanan

With the patent to Mary Kies, women could now protect both the originality and the integrity of their creations. — Paul D. Buchanan

(image via New York Public Library)

There were other female inventors before Mary Kies, of course. But she was the first to get her name on a patent.

As a wife and mother in the late 19th century, Mary worked in the straw hat…