Professor Kara W. Swanson, a renowned expert on intellectual property and the history of science, received the 2022 Martha Trescott Prize from the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) in recognition of her article “Inventing the Woman Voter: Suffrage, Ability, and Patents,” published in the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (JGAPE). The annual prize recognizes the best published essay in one of two areas. In even-numbered years, the prize is awarded to an outstanding published historical essay in the area of women in technology. In odd-numbered years, the prize is awarded to an outstanding published essay in the area of social responsibility of engineers in history. Swanson, who also trained as a biochemist and molecular biologist, was presented with the award at the SHOT annual meeting in New Orleans in November.

“I am thrilled that this article, a contribution to a special issue of JGAPE on ‘The Nineteenth Amendment at 100,’ has been recognized as a significant contri- bution to the history of women and technology,” said Swanson. “The history it explores, how white woman suffragists used patents as political tools as they fought for the vote, is drawn from my book- in-progress, Inventing Citizens. The book examines the ways in which Americans have considered eligibility for full legal personhood through debates about who possessed inventiveness, from the Constitutional Convention of
1787 to present-day patent office initiatives.”