She Invented Home Security—and History Forgot Her
As promised, this is the next blog in our series highlighting not-so-well-known but deeply important Black people who helped shape America. Not the usual history-book names. Not the ones everyone already knows. These are the people whose ideas quietly built the systems we use every day.
This woman didn’t invent something to become famous.
She didn’t have venture capital.
She wasn’t trying to disrupt an industry. She was just trying to feel safe in her own home.
Long before smart doorbells, before security apps, before anyone imagined a television could protect you, a Black woman from Queens created the foundation of modern home security.
Her name was Marie Van Brittan Brown—and if you’ve ever checked a screen before opening your door, you’re using her idea.
The Problem No One Was Rushing to Solve
Marie Van Brittan Brown was born in 1922 in Queens, New York. She worked as a nurse, often pulling long, unpredictable overnight shifts. At the same time, crime in her neighborhood was rising—and police response times were slow. Coming home alone meant facing the same question night after night:
Do I open the door and risk it… or stay inside and sit with the fear?
For a lot of women, that fear was just accepted as normal. Marie didn’t accept it. Instead of waiting for someone else to fix the problem, she decided to design her way out of it. This wasn’t a tech startup. This wasn’t innovation for profit. It was survival.
How Marie Van Brittan Brown Invented Home Security
In the mid-1960s, Marie started sketching a system that would allow her to see, hear, and talk to anyone at her door without opening it. With help from her husband, Albert Brown—an electronics technician—she turned those sketches into a working invention.
A camera that moved vertically to see through multiple peepholes
Television monitors inside the home showing visitors in real time
Two-way audio so you could speak without opening the door
A remote-controlled door lock
An emergency alert button to contact authorities
Today, we call this a home security system.
In 1966?
It was unheard of.
A Groundbreaking Patent That Changed Everything
In 1969, Marie Van Brittan Brown patented her invention, becoming one of the earliest Black women to patent electronic home security technology.
Her work laid the foundation for:
Video doorbells
Closed-circuit television (CCTV)
Smart home monitoring systems
Remote access and security alerts
If you’ve ever checked your phone to see who rang your doorbell instead of opening the door blindly—you’re living in Marie’s future.
Why Marie Van Brittan Brown’s Story Matters
This story isn’t just about technology. It’s about who gets remembered.
Marie was innovating at a time when:
Black inventors were rarely credited
Women were excluded from engineering spaces
Nursing was seen as her limit, not her launchpad
She didn’t invent for recognition. She didn’t invent for wealth. She invented because her life depended on it—and that makes her legacy powerful.
Little-Known Facts About Marie Van Brittan Brown
Here’s what often gets left out:
Her system used multiple peepholes so adults, children, and people of different heights could be seen clearly
She imagined video surveillance decades before personal computers were common
Later security patents borrowed from her ideas, often without credit
She never mass-produced her invention—yet its design still shapes modern technology
One of her children later combined nursing and invention, continuing her problem-solving legacy
Quiet impact. Massive influence.
A Legacy of Safety We Still Rely On
Marie Van Brittan Brown passed away in 1999—just before home security technology exploded into a global industry. She never saw doorbell cameras go viral. She never watched smart homes become the norm. But every time someone checks a screen before opening their door, her brilliance lives on. She didn’t just invent a device. She invented peace of mind.
Who’s Next?
Marie’s story leaves us with a bigger question:
What happens when someone does the right thing—or something extraordinary—before the world is ready to celebrate them?
History loves the idea. It’s less reliable at honoring the person—especially when they’re young, outspoken, imperfect, or inconvenient. That’s where our next story lives.
Next up: Claudette Colvin—a 15-year-old girl whose courage showed up early, unpolished, and at great personal cost. She stood up for justice long before the world decided it was ready to listen.
So here’s your challenge until then: Be kind to people whose bravery doesn’t look “ready.” Listen to voices that speak before it’s comfortable. Make room for courage in all its forms. Because history isn’t only shaped by the names we remember. It’s shaped by the ones we almost scrolled past.
And Claudette Colvin’s story?
You’re going to want to read it.
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