The American entrepreneur who invented windshield wipers is Mary Anderson from Alabama.

Mary Anderson cleared glass windshields and broke glass ceilings.

A woman from the South, who was born in Alabama following the end of the Civil War, invented a widely recognized safety device.

Anderson patented windshield wipers.

In many ways, she embodied the spirit of Scarlett O'Hara from "Gone with the Wind."

Anderson was born on a southern plantation but was raised in a society that had been devastated by war.

The Confederacy experienced a significant loss of human capital, particularly among its male population, with more than 1 in 5 military-age men (around 22%) being killed in the Civil War, according to various sources.

Southerners displayed an unbreakable spirit. Anderson was a part of a new generation of entrepreneurs and innovators who were filled with determination to overcome obstacles.

Many of them were women, later represented by the fictional icon O'Hara.

In Alabama, Anderson constructed apartments; in California, she managed cattle; after a New York City trolley trip during winter, she came up with a solution to keep the world moving during storms.

"She didn't have a father; she didn't have a husband, and she didn't have a son."

One of her descendants, Sara-Scott Wingo, stated in a 2017 NPR interview that she didn't have a father, husband, or son.

"And the world was kind of run by men back then."

Cattle calls & trolley cars

In Greene County, Alabama, on February 19, 1866, Mary Elizabeth Anderson was born to John C. and Rebecca Anderson on Burton Hill Plantation.

The Reconstruction Era, marked by economic hardship and social upheaval, began in the South just 10 months after the end of the Civil War.

In 1870, the Anderson family experienced a loss as Mary's father passed away at the age of four.

Dr. J. Fred Olive III, of the University of Alabama Birmingham, wrote in the Encyclopedia of Alabama that Mary, her sister Fannie, and mother continued to live off the proceeds from his estate.

The Fairmont Apartments were constructed by the Anderson women, who relocated to Birmingham and entered the real estate industry.

Mary Anderson also sought adventure and/or fortune out west.

In 1893, at 27 years old, she relocated to Fresno, California, and spent several years overseeing a vineyard and cattle ranch before eventually returning to her hometown of Birmingham.

In late 1902, she visited New York City and experienced northern weather for the first time.

"During a snowstorm while riding an electric streetcar, she observed the shivering motorman who was operating the streetcar, as described in Charles Carey's 2002 book, "American Inventors, Entrepreneurs and Business Visionaries.""

"She noticed that the motorman operating the streetcar was shivering … He was constantly having to slide open the middle pane so he could wipe off the glass."

The windshield was covered in snow, requiring the driver to frequently slide open the middle pane to wipe it off.

The driver's impaired vision and operational ability posed safety hazards for both pedestrians and passengers.

The woman, accustomed to living in warmth and sunshine surrounded by Alabama bougainvillea and California farmland, likely found the winter ride exposed to the winter elements to be miserable.

"After returning to Alabama, Carey pondered deeply about the motorman's predicament."

‘Teased and laughed at’

Anderson spent several months developing a method for drivers to clean their windshields from within their vehicles.

There is no evidence to suggest that Anderson underwent any training in mechanics or engineering.

In June 1903, she applied for the "window cleaning device" patent and received it in November 1903.

With Anderson's original device, drivers manually operated windshield wipers using a lever, while modern windshield wipers use powerful little motors that deliver high torque at low speed with the twist of a knob.

According to Lemelson-MIT's online biography of Anderson, the lever caused a spring-loaded arm with a rubber blade to swing across the windshield and back again to its original position, thus removing droplets of rain or flakes of snow from the windshield's surface.

The patent application states that it is necessary for the driver to grasp the handle and turn it in either direction to clean the pane.

"Lemelson-MIT acknowledged that similar devices had been made earlier, but Anderson's was the first to successfully function."

Anderson's wiper worked. But it didn't sell.

According to MIT-Lemelson, the inventor's idea for windshield wipers was met with ridicule and mockery from numerous individuals.

The transportation industry and auto titans presented Anderson with a wall of uncertainty and opposition.

One rejection letter from the Canadian firm of Dinning and Eckenstein stated that they do not consider it to be of sufficient commercial value to justify selling it.

Anderson "was teased and laughed at by many people because of her idea for the windshield wipers."

The National Inventors Hall of Fame reports that despite not being at fault, her invention was ahead of its time, allowing other companies and entrepreneurs to profit from her original ideas.

A vision with rhythm

On June 27, 1953, Mary Anderson passed away at her summer residence in Monteagle, Tennessee.

She was 87 years old and is interred at Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham.

The Fairmont Apartments was owned by Anderson, a widely known Birmingham resident, according to her obituary in the Birmingham Post-Herald.

In 1920, the patent for her invention expired, coinciding with the surge in popularity of automobiles and the increasing need for safe operation in adverse weather conditions, even among auto industry leaders.

The National Inventors Hall of Fame reported in 1922 that Cadillac started manufacturing cars with windshield wipers as a standard feature, and inducted Anderson into their hall in 2011.

"The rest of the automotive industry followed suit not long after."

In 1902, a young woman named Anderson had a vision for the world in New York City. She lived long enough to see that vision become a reality.

Almost every vehicle worldwide, including planes, trains, and automobiles, is equipped with windshield wipers.

They're on boats and trolleys too.

"Windshield wipers clapping time/I was holdin’ Bobby’s hand in mine." — "Me and Bobby McGee"

Frontline defenders of public safety, windshield wipers provide us with clear vision during inclement weather conditions.

Anderson's invention ensures the continuous operation of the economy by facilitating the constant flow of goods and services.

Without windshield wipers, transportation would immediately stop during bad weather in cities, highways, states, or regions.

Anderson's vision captures the essence of significant moments in our lives and popular culture.

In "Me and Bobby McGee," Kris Kristofferson portrayed the steady beat of windshield wipers, emphasizing the theme of freedom and love during a rainy night in Louisiana.

Windshield wipers are so essential to modern life we don't even notice them — unless they're used as a giant paper-clip for parking tickets.

The windshield wiper metronome beat accompanied Janis Joplin and other performers singing popular versions of the song, with every note synchronized to the clapping of windshield wipers.

Mary Anderson's invention of windshield wipers has become so commonplace in modern life that we often overlook them, except when they are used as a makeshift paper clip for parking tickets.

In her 2017 NPR interview, Sara-Scott Wingo, one of her few descendants, stated that everyone was extremely proud of her.

"My three daughters and I frequently discuss Mary Anderson, and we all feel a desire to be open and receptive to our own "Mary Anderson moments.""

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