11/12/2025
The man who invented dry cleaning in 1821 used his patent money to buy enslaved people's freedom—and his daughter would sue a streetcar company 100 years before Rosa Parks.
On March 3, 1821, Thomas L. Jennings became the first African American to receive a U.S. patent—an achievement that was remarkable not just for what he invented, but for the fact that he could patent it at all.
Born free in 1791 in New York City, Jennings worked as a tailor, a profession that required precision, skill, and an understanding of fabrics that most people never developed. Day after day, he worked with expensive, delicate materials—silks, wools, fine fabrics that wealthy clients demanded look perfect.
But there was a problem: these delicate fabrics were nearly impossible to clean effectively. Water and soap could damage or shrink them. Stains often became permanent. And once an expensive garment was ruined, it was ruined.
Jennings saw an opportunity.
He developed a process he called "dry scouring"—a method of cleaning clothes without water, using chemical solvents instead. It was the precursor to what we now call dry cleaning, and it revolutionized garment care.
On March 3, 1821, the U.S. Patent Office granted him Patent No. X3306 for his process. He was thirty years old.
This made Thomas L. Jennings the first African American ever to hold a U.S. patent.
To understand how extraordinary this was, you need to know what was happening in America in 1821.
Slavery was legal throughout the South and in some Northern states. The vast majority of Black Americans were enslaved—considered property, not people. And enslaved people could not hold patents. Any invention created by an enslaved person legally belonged to their enslaver. The Patent Office would not grant patents to enslaved individuals.
This meant that countless inventions by enslaved people—agricultural innovations, mechanical improvements, medical discoveries—were credited to white enslavers or simply lost to history. We'll never know how many Black inventors' contributions were stolen or erased because of this system.
Jennings was able to patent his invention because he was free—born free in New York, where slavery was being gradually abolished. His freedom gave him legal standing that millions of his fellow Black Americans didn't have.
But Jennings understood something profound: his success meant nothing if he was the only one free.
The dry scouring process was successful. Jennings made good money from his patent and his tailoring business. He could have simply enjoyed his prosperity, secured his family's comfort, and stayed safe.
Instead, he used his patent earnings to fund the fight for freedom.
Jennings became deeply involved in the abolitionist movement in New York.
