Women in Automotive History

Did you know? Women have been involved in the innovation of the automotive industry since the very beginning. While cars and automobiles have been seen as more of a male dominated field, many of the gadgets and technologies found in your car were first invented by women. In honor of Women’s History Month, dive into the background behind just a few of the leading ladies behind the wheel.

First up is Bertha Benz, wife of engineer Karl Benz who became the second half of the Mercedes-Benz family. Two years after the introduction of the Benz-Patent Motorwagen, the world’s very first automobile, Bertha Benz took her family on the first-ever road trip. Along the ride, Benz not only stirred up publicity with her family in the new vehicle, but she was able to troubleshoot along the way. After the wooden brakes failed, Benz covered them with what she called brake linings – soon to become the very first brake pads we know today. It might seem simple, but just imagine how
expensive repairs would be now without them.

Mary Anderson, born in 1866, was the first to invent the windshield wiper. While traveling in New York, Anderson noticed that the driver on her trolley ride would leave the front windows open during snow or rain in order to see properly. Of course, this meant freezing the entire cabin or soaking the driver in rainwater. Anderson’s manual windshield wiper was a rubber blade operated by a crank easily reachable by the driver. Today, the windshield wiper has become so standard that it’s easy to think it wasn’t always there.

Florence Lawrence is most known for her acting career. While she might have been famous on stage, she was also famous for her automotive innovations. Lawrence loved her car, viewing it as a piece of herself and maintaining its upkeep on her own. She soon began to customize her vehicle, as most people tend to do, leading to the very first turn signals. While these weren’t the blinking lights we know today, they were just as easy to control. Her signals were flags that would flare out of the car’s bumper at the push of a button, signaling which way she intended to turn. Lawrence then
added her very own brake signal – a sign that would pop up when the brake was pressed that simply said ‘STOP’. Lawrence was never able to patent these ideas, but they became the most necessary functions in traffic safety that we know today.

Want to learn more? Click here to see what other automotive innovations were founded by women.