Anyssa Oliver-Keeling – Contributing Writer

amk7817@psu.edu

On Oct. 22, 1922, in Queens, NY, Marie van Brittan Brown was born. Why is this of any  significance? Well, she is the inventor of the home security system. She lived in Queens with  her husband Albert Brown, and neither had standard 9-5 jobs, with Marie being a nurse and  Albert being an electrician. She would often be home alone at night, causing fear and  vulnerability. Crime in Queens was at an all-time high and neither had the time to stay home  and survey their house 24/7. Even when the police were called, it took a very long time to  respond to the situation. As a result of this, she looked for ways to increase her home security,  and came up with a two-way security system that can contact authorities as soon as possible. 

Her first invention involved having three peepholes on her front door; one for taller people,  one for children, and one for average-height people. On the opposite side of the door, there  was a “camera attached with the ability to slide up and down to allow the person to see  through each peephole.” Said camera picked up images that would reflect on a monitor  wirelessly. The monitor could be anywhere in the house, letting you see who was at the door  wherever you were in the house. She also made a voice component, and if said person  happened to be an intruder, she could push a button to notify police immediately.  

Marie and her husband filed for a patent on Aug. 1, 1966, and it was approved Dec. 2, 1969.  She was given her flowers as she received an award from the National Scientists’ Committee.  She also scored an interview with the New York Times on Dec. 6, 1969. Her incredible invention  created the foundation of security systems used today, which include video monitoring,  remote-controlled door locks, and two-way communication. Marie passed away Feb. 2, 1999, in  the same city she was born in at 76 years of age.