Revolutionizing Home Safety: The Impact of Marie Van Brittan Brown's Innovative Security System

Marie Van Brittan Brown, born in 1922 in Jamaica, Queens, New York, was a pioneering African American innovator in home security. Alongside her husband, Albert Brown, she engineered the video home security system in response to the alarming crime rates of their neighborhood during the 1960s. With Brown working as a nurse and her husband as an electronics technician, their irregular work schedules often left her returning home alone at night, which heightened her concerns regarding safety. Determined to enhance security, she collaborated with Albert to create a comprehensive home defense system. This included a sliding camera, peepholes, microphones, door locks, and closed-circuit television (CCTV). CCTV enables footage access to authorized viewers, allowing Brown to monitor visitors from her bedroom using her television. The system included two-way audio for visitor interaction and an emergency button for quick alerts to law enforcement. In 1969, they secured a patent (U.S. Patent number 3,482,037) for their groundbreaking invention, which laid the groundwork for modern home security technologies, including video doorbells and smart locks. Marie Van Brittan Brown passed away in 1999, leaving an indelible mark on safety innovation.