3rd March 1821: Thomas Jennings becomes the first black American to receive a patent for his invention. He invented a dry-cleaning process called 'dry scouring', a forerunner of today’s dry-cleaning process. Thomas Jennings was the first African American to receive a patent, on March 3, 1821. His patent was for a dry-cleaning process called “dry scouring”. The first money Thomas Jennings earned from his patent was spent on the legal fees necessary to liberate his family out of slavery and support the abolitionist cause.
Thomas Jennings was a free man born in 1791 in New York City. He was 30 years old when he was granted a patent for a dry cleaning process. In his early 20s Thomas Jennings became a tailor, and later opened a dry cleaning business in the city. As a tailor. Jennings' skills were so admired that people near and far came to him to alter or custom tailor items of clothing for them. Eventually, Jennings reputation grew such that he was able to open his own store on Church street which grew into one of the largest clothing stores in New York City.
While running his business Jennings developed dry-scouring. He had many customers complain of their clothes being ruined by stains and so he began experimenting with cleaners and mixtures that would remove the stains without harming the material. Thomas Jennings earned a large amount of money as a tailor and even more with his dry scouring invention and most of the money he earned went to his abolitionist activities. In 1831, Thomas Jennings became assistant secretary for the First Annual Convention of the People of Color in Philadelphia, PA.
Thomas L. Jennings Dry Scouring technique created modern day dry cleaning. His patent made him a fortune for the time. Jennings was fortunate that he was a free man, and not a slave at the time of his invention. Besides all the other indignities and cruelties African American slaves had to face, they were also ineligible to hold a patent. Under the United States patent laws of 1793 a person must sign an oath or declaration stating that they were a citizen of the United States. While there were, apparently, provisions through which a slave could enjoy patent protection, the ability of a slave to seek out, receive and defend a patent was unlikely. Later, in 1858, the patent office changed the laws, stating that since slaves were not citizens, they could not hold a patent. Furthermore, the court said that the slave owner, not being the true inventor could not apply for a patent either.
Thomas Jennings died in New York City in 1856.
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