Did you know that dry cleaning was invented in 1821 by a
black man called Thomas Jennings?
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| Thomas Jennings who paved the way for modern-day dry-cleaning. Credit: Black History Heroes |
Jennings owned a Dry Cleaning business in New
York City and was the first black man in the US to be granted a patent.
The patent was awarded on March 3, 1821 for his discovery of a process called dry-scouring which was the forerunner of today’s
modern dry-cleaning. Jennings was born
free in New York City, New York in 1791.
In his early 20s he became a tailor but then opened a dry-cleaning
business in the city. While running his
business Jennings developed dry-scouring.
The patent to Jennings generated considerable controversy
during this period. Slaves at this time
could not patent their own inventions; their effort was the property of their
master. This regulation dated back to the US patent laws of 1793. The regulation was based on the legal
presumption that "the master is the owner of the fruits of the labor of
the slave both manual and intellectual.” Patent courts also held that slaves
were not citizens and therefore could not own rights to their inventions. In
1861 patent rights were finally extended to slaves.
Thomas Jennings, however, was a free man and thus was able
to gain exclusive rights to his invention and profit from it. Jennings was a passionate abolitionist who
used the income from his invention to free the rest of his family from slavery
and fund abolitionist causes. He served as assistant secretary of the First
Annual Convention of the People of Color which met in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania in June 1831.
Thomas Jennings died in New York City in 1856.
Source: BlackPast.org
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