Elaine King

Mary Dixon Kies was the first American woman to apply and receive a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for her technique on weaving straw with silk to make hats. Kies was born on March 21, 1752 in Killingly, Connecticut. Her culture is different than mine because she was born in the mid 1700’s. Things were a lot different back then. At this time the Naploeon wars were going on. Napoleon was at war with many European counties and the United States wanted to stay out of it. Therefore the US stopped importing European goods. The US government told the citizens to start manufacturing goods themselves. This is when the hat industry boomed because women needed to wear them while working in the fields.

Mary Dixon Kies’ technology was her technique on weaving straw with silk to make beautiful hats when a need for hats was important.

I didn’t really find any of the links given in step 3.3 helpful. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for and what interested me. I finally Googled “women inventors” and was given a large list of women. I chose Mary Dixon Kies because she was the first woman to receive a patent. This was a big deal because women were not allowed to own property and this stopped them from applying for patents and such. Kies opened a door for women and it is extremely inspiring.