Lyda D. Newman got a patent for the first synthetic hairbrush, in 1898. The innovation allowed for easier access to the bristles in order to clean out the brush. In addition, she introduced synthetic bristles. Before her invention brushes used animal hair, such as a boar’s. Her invention made brushing long locks a more hygienic process.

Inventor and women’s rights advocate Lyda Newman is best known for a newly-designed hairbrush patent and her effort to fight for women’s rights; particularly, women’s suffrage. Newman was born in 1885 in Ohio. Newman’s parents wanted a better life for their family so they moved to New York City.

Newman’s hairbrush was patented in 1898 when she was 13 years old. Newman’s interest in making the newly designed hairbrush started when she would do her hair. Then she started doing other women’s hair after moving to New York. In search to find a more efficient way to fix her clients’ hair, Newman invented the new hairbrush style. Once getting the brush patented, she became the third Black woman ever to receive a patent.

Newman’s design was specifically made for Black hair and had synthetic bristles instead of animal hair. The synthetic bristles were firmer, lasted longer, and did not break as easily when used on ethnic hair. The synthetic bristles could be moved farther apart and combed through hair easier and they could be detached and reattached very quickly, which improved efficiency. Hairdressers could now take the bristles out and have a new brush much quicker than cleaning the entire brush between clients. Along with that, there was a compartment in the brush that debris such as dandruff and dirt would fall into and could easily be removed for cleaning.

Newman’s brush was unique because it had an air chamber that allowed airflow to the bristles, which helped the brush dry much faster. By making 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.

Newman was also known for her women’s rights advocacy. By 1915 Newman was highlighted in multiple newspapers for her work in the suffrage movement. 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. Newman made a lot of contributions to society, but many of the historical record of all that she accomplished in her life remains to be found.

Sources:

Ursin, C. (2020, October 04). Lyda Newman (1885- ?). BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/lyda-newman-1885/

Read more:

The Black Panther Party Free Breakfast for School Children

The Negro Motorist Green Book: Black America’s guide through the Jim Crow era

Mississippi Appendectomy: The decades long practice of sterilizing poor black women