Not much detail is known about the life of Mary Anderson. What is known, however, are important details in women's history.
An Entreprenuerial Woman
Born in 1866 on the Burton Hill Plantation in Green County, Anderson was an enterprising and entrepreneurial woman. She, her sister and their widowed mother built and ran the Fairmont Apartments on Highland Avenue in Birmingham, Alabama. By 1893, Anderson had moved to California where she operated a cattle ranch and vineyard. Before she turned thirty she was a real-estate developer, rancher and viticulturist.
However, she soon returned to Birmingham to help care for an elderly aunt then living with Anderson's mother and sister. Anderson's widowed aunt kept seventeen trunks in her room. Once each week, Mary opened the trunks and removed the trays, giving her aunt access to view the contents.
However, Anderson had to do this each time with her eyes firmly closed.
Upon the aunt's death, the Anderson family discovered a trove of jewels, gold and other treasures.
The Anderson women no longer had financial worries.
Invention of the Windshield Wiper
In the winter of 1902, Mary Anderson used some of the money left by her aunt to visit New York City with some friends. Sitting in a trolley while it sleeted outside, Mary noticed the driver's struggle keeping the windshield unobstructed. The driver could either leave the glass down, allowing in the sleet and rain, or he could stop the trolley and run out and clear the glass. Neither option was convenient to the patrons in the trolley, nor the trolley driver.
Other options for keeping a windshield clear were to use a plug of tobacco, a half an onion or a piece of carrot rubbed over the wet windshield. These methods left an oily film on the windshield and did little to improve visibility.
Engineers of the time had also come up with a "split windshield": a windshield which swung open - mostly used on streetcars - but doing little to protect the streetcar driver from the elements of rain or snow.
Upon returning to Birmingham, Anderson sketched a design for a hand-operated device and had a working model developed by a local company. She was granted a 17-year patent for a "window-cleaning device" (Patent No. 743,801) on November 10, 1903. As the windshield wiper was invented prior to the popularity of the automobile, Anderson received only occasional royalties for the invention, but they did not amount to much. Anderson did try to sell the rights through a Canadian firm, but they rejected her application stating that they did not consider the device to have enough commercial value to warrant its sale.
The patent expired in 1920, which was about the time the automobile business began to grow. Windshield wipers using Anderson's basic design became standard equipment on vehicles once the patent expired.
Anderson continued managing the Fairmont Apartments until her death at the age of 87 at her summer home in the Tennessee mountains. She was the oldest member of the South Highland Presbyterian Church at the time of her death.
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