Ellen F. Eglin

Black History Month Spotlight: Day #20

Contribution: an African-American inventor who invented a clothes wringer for washing machines.

Age: 80 (1836 - 1916)

Mini Bio:

Ellen F. Eglin made her living as a housekeeper a long time ago, in the 1880s, when there were not a lot of ways to wash clothes, except with your hands. Ellen invented a machine that had two rollers in a frame that was connected to a crank. When you were doing laundry, you could put the clothes between the rollers after you scrubbed them in a wash basin. Ellen’s clothes wringer made it much easier to squeeze water, soap, and dirt out of the clothes. Similar machines were used in England before Ellen’s invention, but no one in America knew they existed.

During Ellen’s lifetime in the 19th century, she was one of only a few African American women inventors.
She helped set the stage for later inventors such as Madam C.J. Walker, as well as Sarah Boone.
Ellen went on to work as a clerk in a census office.
She should have made a lot of money from her invention, but she sold the rights to it for $18 without patenting it.