Biography lyda a newman

The brush contained evenly spaced rows of bristles with open slots to clear debris away from the hair into a recessed compartment. The back could be opened with a button for cleaning out the compartment. Newman received a patent for her invention on November 15, She paved the way for two other Black inventors to revolutionize hair-care and create an industry.

Hairdressers could now take the bristles out and have a new brush much quicker than cleaning the entire brush between clients. Additionally, there was a compartment in the brush that debris such as dandruff and dirt would fall into and could easily be removed for cleaning. By making all of these changes to the brush and adding synthetic materials, the new hairbrush was cheaper and easier to manufacture.

This made the brush accessible to many women of different backgrounds. By Newman was highlighted in multiple newspapers for her suffrage work. She was one of the organizers of an African American branch of the Woman Suffrage Party which fought to give women the legal right to vote. Throughout the first decade of the 20th century Newman campaigned in her neighborhood in New York to raise awareness of voting.

African-American women played an integral part in the development of hair-care products in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. While Madame C. Walker and Marjorie Joyner are two of the most famous women inventors in this respect, another inventor — Lyda Newman — also played an important role. Lyda D. Newman fl. She held a patent for a novel hairbrush.

Newman's birth and death dates are unknown. She was born in Ohio , [ 1 ] but there is no information regarding her exact dates of birth or death. Newman also appears to have worked with hair in Newport , Rhode Island, during the summer season.

Biography lyda a newman

The Newport Daily News contains the following advertisement in its July 20, , edition:. My original method of magnetic manipulation positively cures nervous exhaustion. Shampooing a specialty. Filed June 19, In the s, Newman invented a hairbrush which contained evenly spaced rows of bristles with open slots to clear debris away from the hair and into a recessed compartment in the brush back.

The brush also had a button which allowed the bristle holder to be removed from the back for cleaning of the brush. The U. The hairbrush she invented was described in her patent as "simple and durable in construction" and being "very effective when in use". See gallery for diagram of the hairbrush. Newman was an organizer for women's suffrage in the early 20th century.