The Many Inventions of Beatrice Kenner

Sidedoor

Smithsonian Institution

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4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 6 April 2022

⏱️ 30 minutes

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Summary

An accident that nearly killed Beatrice Kenner when she was five years old scarred her face for life, but it also gave her a determination to create solutions wherever she saw obstacles. This drive and ingenuity made her one of the most prolific African American inventors of the mid 20th century. This time on Sidedoor, we explore what might be Beatrice Kenner's greatest invention of all: an innovation for periods in a period of innovation.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is SideDor, a podcast from the Smithsonian with support from PRX, I'm Lizzie Peabody.
0:23.7	Sometimes you stumble across something, or someone you never realized you were looking
0:28.6	for.
0:29.6	That's what happened to Ashley Koran.
0:31.3	I was doing my Googles as I tend to do, and she finds this interview from 1993 with
0:39.0	a woman she's never heard of before.
0:41.7	Beatrice Davidson, Kenner.
0:46.0	The interview started like this.
0:48.3	Everyone's story must begin somewhere.
0:51.7	My story began somewhere new Christmas when I was a little over five years old.
0:57.6	She's directing us.
0:58.6	I'm saying, no, when you start with my story, start here.
1:03.9	Ashley is the head of education for the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative, which
1:08.9	means it's her job to share stories of extraordinary American women.
1:13.2	I'm always trying to dig and search for stories that help us pull another thread when
1:18.6	sort of thinking about the importance of women in history.
1:23.1	In this story, this was a thread Ashley wanted to pull.
1:27.8	Like I said, it was near Christmas when I heard my mother tell my brother, sugar boy.
1:34.4	She always had pet names for us.
1:36.7	I was sweet sister.
1:38.7	Sugar boy, if you rake the yard, Santa Claus will be good to you for Christmas.
1:44.8	I was a little thing then, but I heard her.
	...

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