African American Inventor: MARY KENNER (1912-2006) Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner is an inventor of numerous products we use today and has the most patents of any African American woman. Kenner was born on May 17, 1912, in Monroe, North Carolina. Her father was inventor Sidney Nathaniel Davidson, and her mother is unknown to the public records; she has one sibling, her sister, Mildred Davidson Austin Smith. Kenner patented multiple inventions in her ’40s, however, she began inventing at age six when she attempted to invent a self-oiling door hinge. Invention ran in the family. Her maternal grandfather Robert Phromeberger’s most notable inventions were a tricolor light signal for trains and a stretcher with wheels for ambulances. In 1914, her father patented a clothes presser that could fit in a suitcase. In 1980, her sister invented “Family Treedition,” a family board game. Mary Kenner had many ideas as a child, including a convertible roof that would go over the folding rumble seat of ...