Marie Van Brittan Brown Invents a Home Security System

On This Day in History: December 2, 1969

Necessity is the mother of invention. And when a mother wanted to protect her family from crime in an area where the police were slow to help, she invented the first home security system.

--On This Day in History Shit Went Down: December 2, 1969--

Marie Van Brittan Brown was a Black woman who lived her entire life in the neighborhood of Jamaica in Queens, New York. She worked odd hours as a nurse and was often home with the children when her husband Albert, an electronics technician, was not. The neighborhood was rife with criminal activity, and the police were all yeah we’ll get there when we fuckin’ get there. So Brown took matters into her own capable hands.

The first step she took was installing peepholes of various heights so even her children could see who was at the door; then she got technical. She installed a camera to view who was at the door and hooked it up to a wireless television system that allowed someone to see who was on the camera from any room in the house. Her husband also helped her with a two-way radio system to allow inhabitants to talk to who was at the door without having to open it. The door could also be locked and unlocked by remote control. Finally, she installed an alarm button that when pressed would automatically call the police.

Marie and Albert filed their patent application in August of 1966 titled “Home Security System Utilizing Television Surveillance.” It was approved on December 2, 1969. Four days later, an interview with Marie about her invention appeared in the New York Times, which referred to it as an “audio-video alarm system.”

The intention was for it to be a home security system and that home builders would install it as a selling feature, but many found it cost prohibitive at the time. But it did take off with businesses, and later became the basis for many home security systems as the price of electronics dropped. Her invention represents the first-ever closed-circuit television security system. Many security systems in use today use the same fundamental approach to what Brown created.

Marie was later given an award from the National Scientists Committee, and her daughter Norma doubly followed in her mother’s footsteps, also becoming both a nurse and an inventor.

Those who cannot remember the past need a history teacher who says “fuck” a lot. Get both volumes of On This Day in History Sh!t Went Down. They make great gifts, and ‘tis the fuckin’ season!