top of page
Writer's pictureKaren Cross

Marie Van Britten Brown

Updated: Dec 30, 2023

Marie created the first home video security system back in the 1960's and I still find it surprising that it's only now we have so widely adopted this invention in our homes.


The American inventor of the video door bell
Marie van Britten Brown

An engineer from Queens, Marie invented the live video home security system along with her husband, an electrical engineer.

Designed because of how serious crime in her area had risen by over 30% and the Police rarely attended to any reports of crime in the area. She felt more and more unsafe in her own home which led to her creating the system.


Marie's husband filed the patent in 1966 and it was granted in 1969, Marie's husband quoted Marie as the lead designer.


The next hurdle was to get the device manufactured.


Unfortunately Marie's device had never seen manufacturers because installations would cost too much.

Although the device wouldn’t go through the production, Marie and her husband gained immense recognition from the tech world. The first residential CCTV was introduced in 2005, 6 years too late for Marie to see as she had passed away in 1999 in Queen at the age of 76.

Marie's the invention provides personal safety in your home without the need for weapons, you can call for help from the safety of your own home without opening the door until help arrives, today, we take it for granted as another essential gadget for the home crediting modern providers for the innovation but in reality its been around for decades but is now affordable.

Discovering inventors and pioneers has been a bit of a focus of mine of late and I'm relishing the amount of everyday designs which we can credit to African Americans, who despite their circumstances have taken their ideas through to production and overcome many obstacles.

This series will be ongoing and not only feature Black African Americans...

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page