Anna Dormitzer (née Essroger; 1830–1903) was an inventor, mother to seven children and a member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. She received sixteen patents in her lifetime making her part of fifteen percent of women inventors to receive multiple patents.
Early life
Dormitzer was born in Prague, Czech Republic on May 5, 1830. She immigrated to the United States arriving in New York at the age of 20 years in 1850. She married her husband, Henry Dormitzer the same year and they settled in Hoboken, New Jersey where Henry made his fortune in the tobacco business. After retiring the couple moved to New York City where they were both became active in politics. Dormitzer was a suffragette, a member of the National-American Woman Suffrage Association and the Sorosis Society.
Professional career While the Dormitzers were rich enough that they could afford to hire servants to do household tasks such as cleaning windows, Anna Dormitzer was sensitive to the precarious dangers of cleaning, particularly window-cleaning so much so that starting in 1878, she registered twelve patents for a variety of window washing devices. These included chairs and stepladders and a combination of both. Dormitzer included very precise and detailed drawings with her applications since all but her first application included a model. Window-Cleaning Step-Chair, Aug. 13, 1878 Window-Cleaning Chair, Sept. 2, 1878 Window-Cleaning Chair, July 12, 1881 Combined Window Cleaning Chair and Fire Escape, Apr. 18, 1882 Window Cleaning Chair, Feb. 12, 1884 Window Cleaning Chair, June 9, 1885 Window Cleaning Chair, Feb. 2, 1886 Ornamental Step Ladder, Feb. 16, 1886 Paint and Brush Bucket, May 25, 1886 Safety Watch Pocket, Mar. 27, 1888 Step Ladder, Feb. 25, 1890 Step Ladder, Apr. 7, 1891 Ornamental Step Ladder, Jan. 3, 1893 Chair for Washing Windows, May 30, 1893 Napkin Holder, Sept. 24, 1895 Napkin Holder, May 5, 1896
Death and legacy Anna Dormitzer died on May 2, 1903, in New York City. Her husband Henry died several years later in 1911 and they are both buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.
Collections Patent Model - Window-Cleaning Step-Chairs, 1878, Patent no. 206,936, Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, DE
References