Living in a high-crime area of Queens, NY, Marie Van Brittan Brown was concerned for her family’s safety. Along with her husband, Albert, she created the first home surveillance system. It included peepholes, a camera that could slide between them, a monitor, and a microphone for two-way communication.It also had a panic button that called the police instantly.This invention laid the groundwork for modern-day security systems, including smart doorbells like Ring and surveillance cameras in millions of homes.At a time when neither Black women nor home tech was taken seriously, Brown’s innovation proved that necessity truly is the mother of invention.
