It's easy to take the modernity of our lives for granted. Associating the inventors to the inventions we interact with certainly brings a new level of appreciation. In 1995, Autumn Stanley published the book Mothers and Daughters of Invention to highlight women who have contributed to society through their various inventions. SCUA houses an extensive collection of Autumn Stanley's research papers, rough drafts, physical copies of the inventions, and more.

Cover of Mothers and Daughters of Invention, can be found here

Chapters from Autumn Stanley's book varied by field. In MS 659, Box 121, you can find Stanley's compilation of newspaper articles on women innovators- including some in the medical field. One woman highlighted in Stanley's medical field research was Susan Perrine. In 1993, Perrine and her colleagues came up with a potential solution to those affected by sickle-cell anemia. In the article it mentioned that 1 in 400 African Americans are affected by sickle-cell anemia, with most dying from its complications. Perrine worked on helping these patients' bodies create a new, healthy form of hemoglobin via intravenous infusions of arginine butyrate, which turns on a dormant gene for fetal hemoglobin. This fetal hemoglobin typically stops production six months after birth, but could be the solution to sickle-cell anemia. Even present day, this is a solution still researched for sickle-cell anemia.

Article on Susan Perrine that contains hand written notes by Autumn Stanley
Autumn Stanley's notes on Susan Perrine's article. Can be found in MS 659, Box 121, Folder 4

Additionally, SCUA holds physical artifacts from women inventors in Stanley's collection. Picture below are some of those artifacts:

All artifacts can be found in 2003-116

The first invention included in the artifact collection are velcro clasps for necklaces. These clasps help people with arthritis still clasp their necklaces easily and came in a few different colors for aesthetics. Second featured is a leather strap and metal fixture to hold pogs- a popular 90s toy. Third is a Barbie branded "spill proof" carrier for crayons that also includes a crayon sharpener. Fourth highlighted in the collection is a "Great Women" card game that includes succinct biographies on "founders & firsts" on each card. Last pictured is the Fantex paint brush. This paint brush's bristles are created in such a way that you can make unique patterns with the brush, as shown on the packaging.

In Stanley's draft of the agricultural chapter, Stanley even asserts that women were the inventors of agriculture. The chapter's draft states "anthropologists now generally agree, as the Smithsonian's Otis Mason argued so forcefully in 1900, that women invented agriculture. Moreover, in pre-agricultural days, they were the major providers of food by their gathering of plants and their hunting of insects and small animals." Stanley even goes on to assert the idea of men as the hunter/provider was a myth. You can view a picture below from Folder 21 where this rough draft is found.

Photo of the a rough draft page typed out containing various pen written notes
Photo from MS 659, Box 121, Folder 21

Be sure to come stop by SCUA Monday- Thursday 9-5pm and check out more of Autumn Stanley's research for this book in MS 659!