The Patent: from Classical Antiquity to Modern Industry
When we think of invention, often we picture the invention process– coming up with an idea, creating a prototype for that idea, patenting the invention, and then going to production.
A patent, or a government grant to an inventor of the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling aninvention...
New Britain’s Notable Women: Lena Candee Bassette, Suffragette and Political Leader
Best known for her work as a suffragette and local political leader, Lena Candee Bassette (1872-1957) was born in Oran, New York on June 18, 1872. She was one of five children of Ralph Candee and Anne Sarah Housley, and from the age of eleven was raised in Houston, Texas by her aunt and uncle...
Lest We Forget: Remembering New Britain’s Servicemen and Women
New Britain's manufacturing community contributed much more to America's armed conflicts than just equipment and uniforms made here in our factories: thousands of men and women from New Britain served in the armed forces. This year, we remember those who served with just some of their faces, taken from our digital archive...
New Britain’s Women in War: Real Life Rosies
Who were the real Rosies of our WWII factories and production lines? And even earlier, the thousands of American Red Cross nurses who served the nation in World War I? NBIM’s digital archives provide us with a look back at these women doing crucial jobs to support war efforts throughout the first half of the 20th century...
NBIM Celebrates Black Innovators: The Kitchen Inventions That Shaped New Britain’s Industries
Connecticut boasts its fair share of inventors, but did you know that many of the products that were produced in New Britain’s factories were invented by Black Americans? These innovators may not have lived in Connecticut, but they still made an impact on New Britain’s industrial legacy...
NBIM Celebrates Black Innovators: Bridgeport’s Lighting Visionary
Lewis Howard Latimer, born in Chelsea, Massachusetts in 1848, was the only black member of Thomas Edison’s research team. His work was crucial to the development of the lightbulb, and without it, we would not have modern lighting as we know it today...
NBIM Celebrates Black Innovators: The Black Dressmaker who Transformed Ironing
Sarah (Marshall) Boone was born enslaved in New Bern, North Carolina in 1832. She married very young (only 14 or 15!) and moved to New Haven after her freedom was purchased, ostensibly by her new husband, a freedman. They had eight children and had relocated to Connecticut by 1856, six years before the start of the Civil War...
Announcing our new website!
We told you something new was coming, and…. It’s here! NBIM is proud to present our brand new website!