The First Patent — on this day — quiet machine studio

the old patent office building in washington, d.c., where early u.s. patents were processed and stored. source: wikimedia commons

The First Patent

On this day in 1809 — Mary Kies became the first woman to receive a U.S. patent, for a technique of weaving straw with silk.

On May 5, 1809, Mary Kies of Connecticut received a patent for a method of weaving straw with silk and thread to make hats. She was the first woman to be granted a U.S. patent under her own name. The invention was practical and economically significant -- American hat makers relied heavily on European imports, and Kies's technique allowed domestic production using local materials during trade disruptions caused by the Napoleonic Wars.

The patent system was only 19 years old. Women could legally apply, but under coverture laws, married women could not own property independently. Any invention they created technically belonged to their husbands. Kies was unmarried, which allowed her to hold the patent herself. Her invention arrived at a useful moment: the Embargo Act of 1807 had cut off access to fine European straw bonnets. First Lady Dolley Madison praised the technique, lending it social credibility.

a fashion plate from 1810 showing women's bonnets and hats of the era, the type of straw headwear that mary kies's weaving technique helped produce domestically

fashion plate from the repository of arts, 1810, showing the style of bonnets mary kies's technique helped produce. source: wikimedia commons

What is striking is how little we know about her beyond the patent. No likeness survives. The original patent was destroyed in an 1836 fire at the Patent Office. Her significance is not just the invention but the precedent. By 1850, only about 20 patents had been issued to women. By 1900, over 3,000. The system was opening, slowly. Today, women still account for a minority of patent holders -- a disparity shaped by access to education, capital, and networks.

Mary Kies's patent was a practical solution to a material problem, but it also marked a small opening in a closed system. The hat-weaving technique itself faded from use. The precedent remained. Every invention is also a claim to legitimacy. Kies made that claim and won.