Home Security System Invention by Marie Brittan

Marie Van Brittan was a black woman that designed the first home security system that is commonly used today. Marie was born in the year 1922 and died at the age of 76; she was married to Albert Brown who was an electrician and with whom she had two children (Boyd, 26). As a nurse, Marie did not work within 9 am to 5 pm schedules which meant that she could be out in the streets during odd hours of the night. Other times she would be home during odd hours of the day when her husband was out working which made her uneasy given the high crime rates in her neighbourhood at the time (Boyd, 26).

The police were a bit biased and they did not effectively respond to crime emergency reports in Queens, New York City given that it was a black neighbourhood (Piper, 1). This made Marie feel vulnerable and hence the idea to create a security system that could help her feel safe in her own neighbourhood. Marie and her husband came up with a plan to create a security system for their home that would help Marie to feel safe while at home alone. One particular safety issue that greatly bothered Marie was the issue of answering the door blindly without knowing who was on the other side (Piper, 1). So she wanted a system that would give her a chance to see who her visitors were before she opened the door for them. The two hence came up with a security system that included a two way communication and surveillance system.

Marie’s Original Home security design

(US3482037A - Home Security System Utilizing Television Surveillance)

 The system comprised of three peep holes on the door, a camera, monitors, an alarm button and a two way microphone which allowed her to communicate with her visitors on the door (Boyd, 26). The three peep holes were situated on the front door of her home at different height levels. The highest placed hole allowed the camera to view the tall people, the middle one was for the middle height people and the bottom one for children (Buck et al., 1). The camera was placed on the opposite side of the door, the camera was attached in such a way that it could slide up and down which allowed for Marie to see through each of the peep holes. After picking up the image of the person at the door, the images would be reflected to a monitor that could be placed in any part of the house that she was at allowing her to see who was at the door (Buck et al., 1). The system also had a voice component that enabled Marie to communicate with the people that were outside her door. This allowed her to identify if it was intruder or one of her friends before answering the door. If the visitor was an intruder, she could press on the alarm button which sounded a signal to the nearest security firm or the neighbourhood security guard that made immediate response (Piper, 1). If it the person at the door was a friend, Marie would push another button that automatically unlocked the door, allowing the visitor to come into her home.

The invention by Marie is one that greatly changed issues of security in the society at the time. This was a unique invention during the mid-1960s which required the Browns to apply for a patent that was approved in the year 1969 (Buck et al., 1). There was no much competition in their invention because the only other inventions that they referenced in their invention journey was the invention of the television in the year 1939, an identification system in 1959 and a remotely operated control of the scanning systems that was approved in June of the year 1966 (Buck et al., 1). This was hence the fourth invention in the technology world which came to later be referenced by more than thirteen other inventions the most recent one being in the year 2013.

 The closed circuit system invented by Marie is one that has influenced most of the modern security systems that have adopted features such as monitoring of security using video footages, remote controlled door lock, alarm buttons that are triggered by push of buttons, immediate messaging to law enforcement agency and security suppliers and a two way voice system. Marie’s invention at the time became commonly adopted by small trades, single family housing, small offices, and even apartments that saw it an effective security system. This is a very interesting invention given that it was motivated by actual problems that people go through in their lives. Most of the criminal activities that happen in homes come about as a result of people opening their doors to strangers or just a breaking when one is not around.

A home security system is something that is greatly adopted by most people in the society to help deal with the issue of burglary (Vigne et al., 1). Even though the security systems that are used today are more developed, they were all been motivated by Marie’s invention. The technology used is still the same given that it uses the same features, including a camera system that is installed in the preferred places, where the images are recorded and then reflected on monitors. The internet has also greatly help to advance the security system technology such that people can now install the security cameras in their homes, and they can use a mobile app in their phones to access the camera footage from their homes any time they want and from anywhere (Vigne et al., 1). This is a system that has been adopted in almost every business to help keep of burglars who prefer to stay away from places that have security cameras.

This same security system commonly known as CCTV surveillance that has also been adopted by most government agencies to help in dealing with cases of insecurity, corruption and any issues of discrimination in public services (Vigne et al., 1). Almost every public facility has security cameras that help record everything happening which has greatly helped in reducing injustices in these facilities. Marie’s invention has basically helped change the society for the better, though her invention was meant for home security and it was not greatly appreciated at the time. Advancement in technology today has helped in effecting Marie’s invention, making it more efficient and much easier to use in any situation.

This invention greatly helped bring to light the issue of gender equality showing that women just like men are all capable. During the 1960s, women were not really perceived to be inventors because this was looked at as a complicated venture that could only be handled by men (Cunningham et al., 546). Women took up careers like nursing that related to matters of taking care of other people, women were basically looked at as care givers and not inventors (Cunningham et al., 546). Marie as a woman, most especially a black woman found it very challenging to sell an idea, most especially one that touched on matters of invention an area that was looked at as male suited. This is one of the reasons why she had to work with her husband Brown to help push the whole security system idea approved.

Her husband is the one who received her patent, further helping to illustrate the issue of gender equality. The society at this time did not believe in women making decisions on their own without a man by their side (Cunningham et al., 550). For a woman to be recognized in the society she needed the support of a man and this is further illustrated with how New York Times reported the story of Marie. In the news report, the name of her husband, Albert appeared first followed by her name and a quote illustrating that the new system gave women a chance to stay in the house alone without fear (Buck et al., 1). This invention should have been used as a platform to help motivate and applaud women, most especially black women who were struggling to fit in the racist and also male dominated society during that time. The society did not recognize and actually appreciate the invention of Marie as another inventor. They used this invention to degrade women even further by showing that even if they are intelligent, they still come second after men.

The issue of Marie not getting the right recognition as the inventor of this security system could have affected her motivation to come up with other inventions or even advance this particular invention to make it more effective. I feel like this had some psychological effect on her, knowing that she was the one that came up with this idea, and helped to create the security system but ended up being side-lined as her husband got all the recognition all because he was a man and she was a woman. The invention by Marie unlike the other inventions at the time did not really generate any profits for her (Piper, 1). She did not to enjoy the fruits of her work, this is an idea that did not receive the recognition that it deserved, given the positive impacts that it has had on the society.

Marie’s life after this invention is not really known, there is really not much information about how she felt about her innovation. I would really love to know what she hoped to do with this security system other than just installing it in her home. As someone that invented one of the best systems in the world, this is a woman whose ideas, feelings and life after the innovation required being documented. If I was to conduct more research on Marie and her home security invention, I would like to know what Marie did after she received the patent and how she perceived the issue of gender inequality. I would also love to know if the issue of insecurity in her neighbourhood changed with her new invention and how the people around her perceived her  as a woman who had broken the gender roles set for her by the society after her invention.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

“US3482037A - Home Security System Utilizing Television Surveillance.” Google Patents,

            Google, patents.google.com/patent/US3482037A/en.

Boyd, Herb. “CCTV Inventor Marie Van Brittan Brown.” New York Amsterdam News, vol.

110, no. 11, 14 Mar. 2019, p. 26. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=135670008&site=ehost-live.

Buck, Stephanie, and Stephanie Buck. “This African American Woman Invented Your Home

Security System.” Timeline, Timeline, 13 June 2017, timeline.com/marie-van-brittan-brown-b63b72c415f0.

Cunningham, James S., and Nadja Zalokar. “The Economic Progress of Black Women, 1940-

1980: Occupational Distribution a Nd Relative Wages.” ILR Review, vol. 45, no. 3, Apr. 1992, pp. 540–555. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1177/001979399204500309.

Piper. “Marie Van Brittan Brown: Founder of CCTV Home Security.” Piper, 8 Mar. 2017,

            getpiper.com/marie-van-brittan-brown-founder-of-cctv-home-security

Vigne, Nancy G. La. “How Surveillance Cameras Can Help Prevent and Solve Crime.”

Urban Institute, 23 Feb. 2018, www.urban.org/urban-wire/how-surveillance-cameras-can-help-prevent-and-solve-crime.