Claim:
A Black woman, Marie Van Brittan Brown, and her husband, Albert, patented an early version of the home security system.
Rating:
For years, claims that a Black woman, Marie Van Brittan Brown, and her husband, Albert, patented an early version of the home security system have circulated online.
For instance, social media users on platforms like X (archived), Facebook (archived) and Instagram (archived) have posted purported diagrams of her invention and photographs of Brown, with one user stating, “Marie’s patent (U.S. Patent 3,482,037) laid the foundation for modern security systems and CCTV.”
Some posts (archived) from October 2025 also included videos created using generative artificial intelligence, purportedly showcasing an interview with Brown about her often overlooked contribution to modern home security.
The claim is true.
However, some of the posts that circulated with a photograph purporting to be Marie Van Brittan Brown actually showed Bessie Blount, another oft-overlooked Black female inventor, credited with the invention of an automatic feeding device to disabled veterans.
The Browns filed their patent for a “Home Security System Utilizing Television Surveillance” on Aug. 1, 1966, and it was approved Dec. 2, 1969.
The filing described the patent as:
A video and audio security system for a house under control of an occupant thereof. The system includes a video scanning device at the entrance door of the house to scan a visitor outside the door, and includes audio intercommunication equipment inside and outside the door for conversing with the visitor outside the door. A lock is provided for the door with releasing means for the lock manually controlled by the occupant of the house.
The filing included detailed diagrams of the invention, which can be seen in the PDF embedded below.
The New York Times reported on the approval of the Browns’ patent in its Dec. 6, 1969, edition (pages 55 and 59), with a blurb in the “Patents of the Week” section.
The write-up reported Marie Brown “pointed out the other day that it takes considerable time to dial the police and get action in an emergency,” leading to an invention in which “a woman alone in the house could alarm the neighborhood immediately by pressing a button.”
The New York Times described the couple and their invention in detail:
A New York couple, disturbed at urban crime, have patented an audio-video alarm system for household protection. Operated from a bedroom, it can be used to scan and interview a visitor at the door, and admit him or sound an alarm. Albert L. Brown, an electronic technician, and his wife, Marie, a nurse who works nights, were granted Patent 3,482,037 this week. They expect to install one of the units at their house in Jamaica, Queens.
The patent drawings show a receiver resembling a small bedside television set, with a screen displaying a video picture of the visitor. There are a speaker and a microphone for radio communication with the door, and buttons to operate the lock, alert a guard or sound a siren.
The scanner described in the patent is in a cabinet attached to the inside of the door. The cabinet can be moved up or down by electric motor as a series of small windows is uncovered one at a time—providing a high view for a tall man or a low one for a child.
If an apartment building or row of houses has a central security office, pressure on a button will transmit to it both the picture and the radioed conversation. The talk can be recorded if necessary.
The write-up in the Times stated the device was not in production, “but the Browns hope to interest manufacturers and home builders.”
It appeared the Browns never successfully contracted with a manufacturer or were able to reap any financial benefits from their invention before she died in 1999.
In 2021, Smithsonian Magazine reported the lack of financial success was due to the invention being “ahead of its time” and quoted Robert McCrie, an emergency management expert at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, who said, “The cost of installing it [at that time] would be pretty high.”
An advanced search of the United States Patent and Trademark Office revealed that Brown’s patent was referenced in dozens of other patents as of this writing, meaning others built upon the invention to achieve the kind of home security systems people use in the present day. We were unable to archive the search results, but a screenshot of the results is shown below.
(United States Patent and Trademark Office)
BlackPast.org, a website “dedicated to providing the inquisitive public with comprehensive, reliable, and accurate information concerning the history of African Americans in the United States,” further claimed Brown was the recipient of “an award from the National Scientists Committee.”
The site stated “no year for the award can be identified” and Snopes could not find evidence of reporting on such an award.
However, Brown’s contribution has often been featured in newspaper stories about Black or women inventors throughout the years, including in the Lexington Herald-Leader in 2012, The Maryland Independent in 2019, The Spokesman-Review in 2024 and the Detroit Free Press in 2025.
According to consumer reporting website Consumer Affairs, “As of 2024, the smart home security market is worth an estimated $32.5 billion — that figure is expected to hit $62 billion by 2029.”
For further reading, Snopes previously investigated claims of a Black aviator who patented a flying machine before the Wright Brothers’ famous first flight.
Sources
Hilgers, Laura. “A Brief History of the Invention of the Home Security Alarm.” Smithsonian Magazine, Mar. 2021, www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/history-home-security-alarm-180977002/.
Hill, Rebecca, and Rebecca Hill. “Marie van Brittan Brown (1922-1999).” BlackPast.org, 11 Apr. 2025, blackpast.org/african-american-history/brown-marie-van-brittan-1922-1999/.
“Home Security Statistics 2023 | ConsumerAffairs®.” Www.consumeraffairs.com, 24 Oct. 2023, www.consumeraffairs.com/homeowners/home-security-statistics.html.
“HOME SECURITY SYSTEM UTILIZING TELEVISION SURVEILLANCE.” US Patent & Trademark Office, US Patent & Trademark Office, 2 Dec. 1969, ppubs.uspto.gov/api/patents/html/3482037?source=USOCR&requestToken=eyJzdWIiOiI3OWZkOTcxYi1iNjcyLTRjMGEtOTcyOC1jMjhhOWVmNWFmYmYiLCJ2ZXIiOiJmYzJiYzkxMS0zZmJmLTQ5ZDUtOTY5Yy00OGM0YzFjZjUyMTgiLCJleHAiOjB9.
Jones, Stacy. “The New York Times: Saturday December 6, 1969.” Nytimes.com, 2025, timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1969/12/06/issue.html. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
McNeill, Leila. “The Woman Who Made a Device to Help Disabled Veterans Feed Themselves—and Gave It Away for Free.” Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Oct. 2018, www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/woman-who-made-device-help-disabled-veterans-feed-themselvesand-gave-it-away-free-180970321/.
Padnani, Amisha. “Overlooked No More: Bessie Blount, Nurse, Wartime Inventor and Handwriting Expert (Published 2019).” The New York Times, 28 Mar. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/03/27/obituaries/bessie-blount-overlooked.html.
“Article Clipped from Lexington Herald-Leader.” Lexington Herald-Leader [Lexington, Kentucky], 2 Dec. 2012, p. B3. newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/article/lexington-herald-leader/96741975/.
“Feb 09, 2025, Page A24 – Detroit Free Press at Newspapers.Com™.” Newspapers.Com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/1169702812/. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
“Feb 11, 2024, Page D7 – The Spokesman-Review at Newspapers.Com.” Newspapers.Com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/1038339087/. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
“Feb 11, 2024, Page D7 – The Spokesman-Review at Newspapers.Com.” Newspapers.Com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/1038339087/. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
