Mattie and the Machine is a fictionalized yet historically accurate
account of Margaret E. Knight's fight to obtain recognition as a 19th
century female inventor (she would eventually be inducted into the
National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006). This entertaining tale is
filled with romance, competition, and treachery, and features a feisty
and brilliant female heroine who excels in STEM-related tasks.
In 1868 New England, fifteen-year-old Mattie is a mechanic in Columbia
Paper's all-female bag division. With paper bag sales booming after the
Civil War, her boss expands the division by hiring men from his old Army
regiment, including the mechanic Frank. Sparks instantly fly between
Mattie and Frank, and their budding romance has her walking on
air--until she discovers Frank's pay is higher than hers. In fact, all
the men receive thirty percent more than their female counterparts. The
boss's rationale? Men are inherently better with machines.
Determined to prove him wrong, Mattie proposes a bet: If she can build a
machine that fully automates their paper-bag-making process, the women
will receive equal pay. If she fails, she'll resign as mechanic. The
boss accepts, with one condition: Frank will also build a machine, and
Mattie's must beat his.
Mattie's determination as she struggles with the technical challenges
she encounters while taking her invention from initial concept to
working prototype--in addition to the overwhelming prejudice she faces
in the workplace and, eventually, the courtroom--makes her story an
inspiring feminist narrative. Mattie and the Machine also includes an
appendix with Margaret E. Knight's actual patent application and
drawings for her Bag Machine.
