About Mary Kenner
Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner (May 17, 1912 – January 13, 2006) was an African American inventor who created an adjustable sanitary belt. to keep menstrual pads securely in place. She has been granted five patents in between 1956 and 1987, one of the highest totals awarded to an African American female inventor. All of her inventions provided solutions to common household and personal care issues; including improving menstrual hygiene products. == Early life, Education, and Career == Kenner was born in Monroe, North Carolina. Her father, Sidney Nathaniel Davison, had patented a compact clothing presser in 1914. Her maternal grandfather, Robert Phromeberger, held patents for a tricolor light signals for trains and a wheeled ambulance stretcher. Her sister, Mildred Davidson Austin Smith would go on to hold a patent for a family board game in 1980. At age six Kenner tried to create a self oiling door hinge because every morning she heard the squeak of the front door. After moving to Washington, DC in 1924 Kenner became familiarized with the USPTO and the filing patent applications.
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