Home security electronics

Marie Van Brittan Brown: inventions and patents

Marie Van Brittan Brown was a nurse and inventor from Jamaica, Queens, New York. With her husband Albert L. Brown, an electronics technician, she filed a US patent in 1966 for a home security system using television surveillance, granted in 1969. The patent describes a video scanner at the entrance door, two-way audio so the occupant can talk with visitors, and a lock the occupant can release. The Lemelson-MIT Program describes it as an early closed-circuit television (CCTV) system.^1,2

Patents

Inventions

• Television home security system, 1966. A system with a video scanner at the door, television monitors, two-way audio and a remotely released lock. The Lemelson-MIT Program says it also had an emergency button to alert police or security.^1,2

Recognition

• Award from the National Scientists Committee, as reported by the Lemelson-MIT Program²

Sources

1. Google Patents, US3482037A Home security system utilizing television surveillance (accessed 2026-10-28)
2. Lemelson-MIT Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Marie van Brittan Brown (accessed 2026-10-28)