That secretary was Elizabeth Clair McMurray Nesmith Graham, the, With no background in chemical engineering, but guided by her side hustle of painting and graphic design, Bette Graham created the first correctional paint to fix document typos. This cookie is set by Linkedin. She donated millions to charity after selling her business. For a variety of reasons - technology changes, increased access to education or better professional opportunities - the profession is on the decline. Unsubscribe whenever. The domain name where the _lc2_fpi cookie was stored.
} Your privacy is important to us. Used to store consent of guests regarding the use of cookies for non-essential purposes. Graham formed the Liquid Paper Company in 1958, spawning a multimillion-dollar market. Inventor. She left her fortune to her son, who took over her foundations that empower striving women. Business and tech news in 5 minutes or less. Subscribe for virtual tools, STEM-inspired play, She was barred from making corporate decisions, lost access to the premises, and the company changed her formula so she would lose royalties. var cookiePair = cookieArr[i].split("="); setHiddenFieldValue(wrappingDiv, sp, 'funnel-medium', 'utm_medium', 'funnel_medium', 'home-exit-popup'); When her husband returned home from World War II, the couple got divorced and Graham was left to single-handedly raise her child. You have subscribed to: Remember that you can always manage your preferences or unsubscribe through the link at the foot of each newsletter. Her correction fluid would be a godsend for typists. The bitterness remained, and Robert Graham maneuvered to have the company bar her from making any corporate decisions. You keep doing it over and over.. Whenever HubSpot changes the session cookie, this cookie is also set to determine if the visitor has restarted their browser. This included positions in management and sales, not just operations. var newVal = searchParams.get(utmName) || getCookie(cookieName); Bette also established an onsite child care center for working parents, meant to help LPC employees but open to any working parent who wanted to enroll their child. Robert Swenson. Bette worked for Texas Bank and Trust as a secretary. In a time when corporations didnt offer much in the way of employee benefits, Liquid Paper was a highly progressive firm. Jan. 05 1931. The son, Michael Nesmith, would find fame as a member of the rock band the Monkees. University of North Texas Libraries Special Collection, These remarkable employee benefits were further memorialized in the 1980. , about three secretaries that took over their company. Her first employees were her teenage son and his friends. Over the next few years, she sought help from a number of industry professionals, including a polymer chemist named Bill Mallow, and further refined her product for a mass market. The substance was Liquid Paper, the correction fluid that relieved secretaries and writers of all stripes from the pressure of perfection. March 23 Horoscope. In 1994, Jeff Bezos discovered a shocking stat: Internet usage grew 2,300% per year. For more information, check out our Privacy Policy. This is used to determine if HubSpot should increment the session number and timestamps in the __hstc cookie. She moved forward anyway, poring over books in the public library to study formulas for tempera paint, and working with a chemistry teacher to improve the consistency of her product. Twitter. Bette Nesmith Graham was born on 23 March 1924 in Corpus Christi, Texas, USA. She is known for her independent films and documentaries, including one about Alexander Graham Bell. She died on May 12, 1980, at the age of 56 years.Bette Nesmith Graham attended Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio, Texas, until she was 17.
Graham with her son Michael in 1957 (via newspaper archives). This cookie is set by Twitter. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Divorced and with a small child to support, Bette took several odd jobs, eventually learning shorthand and typing. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors. var error = wrappingDiv.getElementsByClassName('funnel-error')[0]; Without a doubt, his technique worked beyond her belief. Bette was strongly against growing fast on other peoples money, as she said in that same 1977 speech. Graham poses for a photo later in life (University of North Texas archives). She enjoys painting. After the first season of the greatest sci-fi show of all time, Roddenberry realized he needed a young, mop-top character to lure more teenagers. Used to detect the first pageview session of a user. error.innerHTML = error_message; The product took a few different forms, but was some variation of small bottle or pen with the signature correction fluid. Who says the Monkees were not cutting-edge musicians? for(var i = 0; i < cookieArr.length; i++) { Today's Texas Birthdays. Does the Mentos and Soda Trick Work With Regular Coke? Liquid Paper - Wikipedia Bette is also well known as, Inventor of Liquid Paper who gave countless students a quick way to correct writing mistakes. form.find('.email-form-wrap').after('
Too fast! They include The Gihon Foundation, womens scholarships, and counseling. She died on May 12, 1980, of complications of a stroke. setHiddenFieldValueFromUtm(wrappingDiv, sp, 'funnel-e', 'e', ''); Nesmith went off to World War II and while he was away, she had their only son, Michael Nesmith (later of The Monkees fame). By 1967, Liquid Paper was a million-dollar enterprise. This is one the few tricks that she came to employ when she was working as a secretary. Comment: }); By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. We also link to other websites, but are not responsible for their content. In 1968, she moved into her own plant and corporate headquarters in Dallas with automated operations and 19 employees. This cookie is set by Hotjar. So, in 1979, the inventor of Liquid Paper sold the company to Gillette for $47.5 million, plus a deal for royalties. At first, Nesmith didnt want to venture into a secretarial job; she loved arts including painting and drawing. Graham wasnt a chemist or an engineer. She didnt know it then, but she was on the brink of something magical. But she was also a budding product marketing genius: Over several decades, she identified a need in the market, organically grew her business, staved off competition, and bootstrapped her way to a $47.5m exit $173m in todays money. She was a single mom from Texas who had a brilliant idea while working a 9-to-5 job as a secretary. These cookies are used for advertising, site analytics, and other operational purposes. She took birth on March 23, 1924. This cookie is set by Linkedin. if (error_message && error_message.trim() != '') {
In 1968, Nesmith Graham opened a new plant with 20 employees. The rival Wite-Out would come along in 1966 just like the Monkees. Bette Nesmith Graham was born March 23rd, 1924 ("Bette Nesmith Graham: Liquid Paper Inventor," n.d.). She was . Bette Nesmith Graham. The secretary that invented this product was, by many accounts, a bad typist but an extraordinary entrepreneur. Bowie was born David Robert Jones, and went by Davy Jones in his early, formative rock & roll days. Nevertheless, she made little money despite working nights and weekends to fill orders. Her mother operated a knitting store, and his father worked as a manager in an automotive supply firm. We try our very best, but cannot guarantee perfection. This cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management. She was also the mother of musician and producer Michael Nesmith of The Monkees. To make ends meet, she found work as a secretary at Texas Bank and Trust, where she earned $300/month (~$36k/year in todays money).
To meet demand, she turned her garage into a mini packing plant, paying her son and his friends $1/hour to fill the little glass bottles and affix them with handwritten labels. Kidadl is supported by you, the reader. Bette Nesmith Graham was an exceptional inventor. Starting on a basis of tempera paint she mixed with a common kitchen blender, she called the fluid "Mistake Out" and started to provide her co-workers with . Bridges: Bette Nesmith Graham's inspiration became office mainstay - Yahoo! She died on 12 May 1980 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. "Liquid Paper" for Typists Invented by Secretary A racially integrated staff that recognized affirmative action policies. A technological advancement in typewriters from fabric to carbon ribbons and a more sensitive keypad made errors more common and more difficult to correct: erasers that had worked before now smeared the carbon across the paper. There was also a program that reimbursed 75% of tuition or fees that any employees spent on continuing education.
, The secretary who turned Liquid Paper into a multimillion-dollar business, A woman is suing Jack Daniels over whiskey fungus, Some personal news: LinkedIn is cringe AF, Eli Lilly cuts insulin costs for real, this time, The student loan forgiveness hearing, explained, Kids cant get enough of this influencer sports drink, The supply chain is fine, but inflation is not. The tenacious woman managed to hold on to 49% of the company. AKA Bette Clair McMurray. Who is Bette Nesmith Graham: Bette Nesmith Graham is a famous Entrepreneur. In November, a verified but fake Eli Lilly and Co. account announced that the drugmakers insulin was free. There's Snow on Them Thar Hills - Healdsburg Tribune Nesmith was raised in Dallas by his mother, Bette Nesmith Graham, who invented the first correction fluid in 1956 while working as a typist. Grahams impact on her revolutionary invention, Liquid Paper shows its relevance through its longevity of use to even today. }); By 1967, Liquid Paper had grown into a million-dollar business. Linkedin sets this cookie. } Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Bette Nesmith Graham has received more than 637,807 page views. When I started Liquid Paper Corporation, I had a deep desire to build a company based on ethical values a commitment to serve the interests of our customers above all and to encourage the cultural, educational and spiritual development of our employees, Bette said. var hp_ts = 0; In 1956, Bette Nesmith Graham (mother of future The Monkees guitarist Michael Nesmith) invented the first correction fluid in her kitchen. The _omappvs cookie, used in conjunction with the _omappvp cookies, is used to determine if the visitor has visited the website before, or if it is a new visitor. Share. var prev_email = getCookieValue('funnel_email'); Please try again! Graham died on May 12, 1980, six months after selling her company. If this cookie does not exist when HubSpot manages cookies, it is considered a new session. var el = wrappingDiv.getElementsByClassName(className)[0]; } Bette Nesmith Graham was a secretary in Dallas and a single mother raising her son. I often wonder what Bette would make of todays corporations, particularly in this time of a global pandemic. When the other secretaries realized how well the invention worked, they flooded Graham with requests for their own supplies. In 1962, she married Robert Graham, a frozen-food salesman who then took an increasingly active role in the organization. She left school at 17 to become a secretary and married her high school sweetheart, Warren Nesmith, two years later. Bettes original product was called Mistake Out, which she formed a company around in 1956. A random, unique, device identifier, stored as a 3rd party cookie, used to enable targeted advertising, Collects data on user behaviour and interaction in order to optimize the website and make advertisement on the website more relevant. Good Times! Slowly, he became more involved in the business and attempted to take power away from her, prompting her to file for a second divorce in 1975. She was born on March 23, 1924 and her birthplace is Dallas, TX. Read further to know more about her early and later success. "Biography of Bette Nesmith Graham, Inventor of Liquid Paper."