Virginia Loh-Hagan - Marie Van Brittan Brown and Home Security

Published in the United States of America by
Cherry Lake Publishing
Ann Arbor, Michigan
www.cherrylakepublishing.com

Content Adviser: Kirsten Edwards, MA, Educational Studies
Reading Adviser: Marla Conn, MS, Ed., Literacy specialist, Read-Ability, Inc.

Photo Credits: Don Pablo/Shutterstock.com, Cover, 1; Jeff Whyte/Shutterstock.com, 4; Kheel Center/flickr.com, 6;
Grit_M02/Shutterstock.com, 8; Spotmatik Ltd/Shutterstock.com, 10; Dragon Images/Shutterstock.com, 12;
Marie Van Brittan Brown (US3482037-0)/United States Patent and Trademark Office/www.uspto.gov, 14; Kekyalyaynen/
Shutterstock.com, 16; nd3000 /Shutterstock.com, 18; panuwat phimpha /Shutterstock.com, 20

Copyright 2019 by Cherry Lake Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means without written permission from
the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Loh-Hagan, Virginia, author.

Title: Marie van Brittan Brown and home security / by Virginia Loh-Hagan.

Description: Ann Arbor : Cherry Lake Publishing, [2018] | Series: Women innovators |
Includes bibliographical references and index. | Audience: Grades 4 to 6.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018003302| ISBN 9781534129115 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781534132313 (pbk.) |
ISBN 9781534130814 (pdf) | ISBN 9781534134010 (hosted ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Brown, Marie van Brittan, 1922-1999--Juvenile literature. | African American inventors--Biography--Juvenile
literature. | Women inventors--United States--Biography--Juvenile literature. | Electronic security systems--Juvenile literature. |
Closed-circuit television--Juvenile literature.

Classification: LCC TH140.B743 L64 2018 | DDC 621.389/28092 [B] --dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018003302

Cherry Lake Publishing would like to acknowledge the work of The Partnership for 21st Century Skills.
Please visit www.p21.org for more information.

Printed in the United States of America
Corporate Graphics

A Woman

Do you feel safe in your home? Do you
feel safe in your neighborhood? Being safe
means not being scared of getting hurt or
being robbed. Some people do bad things.
They break the law. Theyre criminals .
They break into peoples homes.

Police officers are community helpers.
They try to keep people and neighborhoods
safe. But they cant be everywhere. People

have to take care of themselves. And
thats what Marie Van Brittan Brown did.

Brown was a black female inventor. She
invented the first home security system.
She wanted to keep her family safe.

Life was not easy for Brown. She lived
at a time when black people and women
were not treated fairly.

She was born on October 30, 1922,
in Queens, New York. She lived there
until she died on February 2, 1999.
She married Albert Brown and had two
children. Her husband was an electronics
technician .

Brown invented a video and audio
security system. Her husband helped. She
came up with the idea, and he built it.
Together, they created an early model of a
closed-circuit television system. In
1969, they got a patent .

Ask Questions!

Talk to a police officer. Ask about the safety of your
neighborhood. Ask about the crime rate. Is your neighborhood
safe or not? How can you make it safer?

An Idea

Brown was a nurse. She worked long
hours. Her husband worked at night.
Because of this, Brown and her children
were home alone a lot.

Their neighborhood had a lot of crime.
Police were slow to respond to emergency
calls. She felt nervous whenever someone
rang her doorbell. She wanted to be able to
see and hear who was at her door from
anywhere in her house.

Like other inventors, Brown improved
other designs. In the 1940s, a German
engineer invented a camera system to
observe rocket testing from a distance.

Brown took this idea and improved it so
it could be used at home. This was
a new idea. No one had thought of creating
home surveillance systems.

Browns invention had several
peepholes and cameras on the door. The
top peephole was for tall people, and the
bottom one was for children. The cameras
took images and sent them to a monitor .

The monitor could be anywhere in the
house.

The invention also had a microphone.
It allowed people to speak to the person
at the door. There was also a remote
control that allowed people to unlock the
door or call the police.

Create!

Create your own security system. Build on Browns ideas. How
can you improve on her invention?

A Legacy

Brown didnt sell her idea. She didnt
make any money. It wouldve been hard for
a black woman to start a business. Most
businesses were owned by white men.

Luckily, she filed a patent with her
husband that gave her credit for her work.
That wasnt easy to do, either. Not many
black women could get patents at this time.
But Brown did it. She was a role model for
other black women inventors.

She inspired other inventions. Her
legacy can be seen in todays security
systems. More than 10 inventors have
used Browns patent to build their own
systems. Security systems using Browns
ideas can be found in houses, buildings,
and offices.

Brown got some attention for her work.
The National Scientists Committee gave her
an award. Brown was also interviewed by
the New York Times .

Today, millions of cameras are hidden in
public places. People are being watched all

the time. This is to protect people and
places. Security systems are all around us.

Browns work is a part of our daily lives.
But not many people know her name. There
are few records of her life. But we are lucky
to have her patent. Her ideas have kept us
safe and secure.

Look!

Look all around you. Look for hidden cameras. Look for security
systems. Why are they there? Do you feel safer? Do you think
other people feel safer?

GLOSSARY

audio (AW-dee-oh) sound, especially
when recorded, transmitted, or
reproduced

closed-circuit (KLOHZD-SUR-kit) a
system that uses video cameras to
transmit images to a limited
number of monitors

criminals (KRIM-uh-nuhlz) people
who break the law

legacy (LEG-uh-see) something
handed down from one generation
to another

monitor (MAH-nih-tur) a screen that
shows what is being recorded or
transmitted

patent (PAT-uhnt) the right from the
government to use or sell an
invention for a certain number of
years

peepholes (PEEP-hohlz) small holes
to look through

security (sih-KYOOR-ih-tee)
freedom from danger or risk

surveillance (sur-VAY-luhns)
continuous observance of people
or places

technician (tek-NISH-uhn) a person
who has been trained to work with
special equipment

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