Newport Car Museum celebrates women’s history month
NEWPORT, R.I. (WLNE) — The Newport Car Museum in Rhode Island is celebrating national women’s history month.
In a release, the group said that while the automotive industry has had many male contributors, plenty of women have had a significant influence on the development of the car.
The car museum shared some examples of prominent women who helped develop the automotive industry.
- Bertha Benz not only took the first long-distance road trip in a car, but also conceived the notion of brake pads when her vehicle’s wooden brakes failed on her trip in 1888.
- Florence Lawrence developed a mechanical signaling device that raised and lowered a flag, indicating which way a car would turn in 1914. This was further developed into the turn signal.
- Mary Anderson invented a manual lever that operated a wiper blade from the inside of the car after watching trolley drivers clear snow and rain from their windshields by hand in 1903.
- Margaret Wilcox invented a system where hot air from an engine could be sent back into the cab of a vehicle, the earliest form of central heating for automobiles in 1893.
The Newport Car Museum shared this photo of the 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen. “The first motor car.”
The Newport Car Museum is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Tickets can be bought at the door or online at this link.
