Nancy Maria Donaldson Johnson

Nancy Maria Donaldson Johnson daughter of Dr. Lothario Donaldson and Mary Polly Rider was born the 28th of December, 1794 in New York. She passed away the 22nd of April, 1890, and was burried at Oak Hill Cementery in Washington DC. Nancy was the eldest of the three sisters, Susanna alethia Donaldson (1976-1840), and Mary Ann Donaldson (1978-1881). Nancy was considered an active Missionary for The American Mission Society along with her sister Susanna Alethia Donaldson. Both sisters participated as teachers and misionaries in the Port Royal Experiment in 1862 with the objective of teaching freed slaves in South Carolina. Nancy Maria Donaldson got married to Walter Rogers (1794-1852) in 1823 and later on adopted two childred, A girl Mary Maria Johnson Stroud (1834-1921), and a boy Walter. W Johnson (1836- 1879). Nancy’s Spouse, Walter Rogers Johnson was known as a scientist and the First Secretary for the American Association for the Advancement of Science.In 1833 Nancy’s birth family decided to change the family name from Danielson to what we know her as now - Donaldson.</ref>

She started as a housewife, and later went on to be a very successful inventor, which was very uncommon in her days.[2] During this time, women’s legal identities were taken away when they married, according to the laws of coveture. Women were not allowed to control their own finances, own property, or sign legal agreements. This was all done by the men. Men were looked at to represent their wives, mothers, and daughters.[3] Nancy Johnson was a social empowerer and taught women of the era that they can make their own way for themselves.

On september 9th, 1843 while Nancy Johnson lived in Philadelphia she filed for her patent in the creation of the first hand-cranked Ice cream machine. Nancy Johnson launched a disruptive technology that we nowadays use and see as part of the process in the creation of quality Ice cream without electricity. This disruptive technology made it possible for us to enjoy the pleasure of ice cream nowadays.Prior to Nancy Johnson’s invention ice cream had a long and unsatisfactory process which consisted in stirring a spoon for hours. President Thomas Jeffereson had an eighteen step recepie to make ice cream. Nancy viewed this process as a pain point and decided that with her determination she would be able to create something that would make this process quicker, yet with quality results for the end product. She was able to invent the Hand Cranked Ice Cream Churn. This technology got rid of the intensive and long lasting labor an individual had to do in order to create ice cream. The Hand Cranked Ice Cream Churn provided an alternative to this process by hand, in an easier and quicker manner.

Starting in 1862 Nancy and her sister Mary taught freed slaves in South Carolina, as part of the Port Royal Experiment. She died in Washington, D.C. in 1890. The family is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.).[4]

Johnson had invented the hand cranked ice cream churn as a way to solve the problem of the amount of time it took to make ice cream. Ice cream was originally made using very intensive labor and it often took one individual hours to make. Johnson essentially provided another way to make ice cream faster and easier than by hand.[5]

Originally, there were many steps to creating ice cream. President Thomas Jefferson had an eighteen step recipe to make ice cream.[6] This all changed when Johnson created her patent.

The patent number for the Artificial Freezer is US3254A.[7] It was patented on September 9th, 1843, and antedated on July 29th, 1848.[8] The Artificial Freezer contained a hand crank, which, when cranked, would spin and rotate two adjacent broad, flat slates containing an array of holes, which would assist in churning the ice cream, making the ice cream more uniform, while also making it easier to remove the ice crystals in the interior walls of the cylindrical container in which the spatulas were fit in.[9] These metal spatulas were attached to this pipe called the “dasher”, which was attached to the handle crank protruding out from the Artificial Freezer.[10] Harnessing the principles of thermodynamics and endothermic reactions,[11] Johnson’s Artificial Freezer was very effective in making ice cream. The wooden tub contained a mixture of salt and crushed ice, thus melting the crushed ice, but dropping the temperature of the solution below freezing point as a result of salt lowering the melting point of liquids. This, in conjunction with the ice cream solution, extracts heat energy from the ice cream, in turn freezing it. Johnson also was able to create the Artificial Freezer so that when using a border to split the machine down the middle, two different flavors of ice cream could be cranked and made at the same time.[12]

In the "artificial freezer", which was the name of the original patent,[13] it was possible to make either ice cream or sorbet, that would last about 30 minutes.[14] There were no electric solutions to keep things cool, as the refrigerator had not been invented and not everybody had an icebox.

With these elements combined, it made it much easier, more efficient, and less labor-intensive for ice cream parlors to produce ice cream. Thus, a more efficient solution made it cheaper to produce ice cream, which in turn, made the ice cream cheaper. This granted accessibility to this dessert across all economic classes, which previously was too expensive for middle and lower classes as the production of the ice cream made it too expensive. In September of 1846, she filed a patent for this Ice cream maker and revolutionized ice-cream making, allowing it to become a commodity that one could easily make and sell. Johnson’s innovation revolutionized the ice cream industry. Ice cream is now one of the most popular desserts worldwide, and it wouldn’t be this popular today if it wasn’t for the churn. Prior to this invention, ice cream was a rare treat which was enjoyed primarily by those of the upper class. It was a treat; not feasible to have every day. In order to eliminate the labor intensive work required to make ice cream, Johnson created a system that allowed the ingredients to be agitated without human intervention. No longer did someone need to spend hours manually stirring the mixture.[15]

At the time only the wealthiest were able to enjoy the pleasure of ice cream because of the labourous process of cooking techniques the product needed to be created. Moreover, it was costly to have the sweet needed ingredients to have a quality ice cream, and not just a cream or ice crunch. Nancy Johnson’s disruptive technology took one of the first steps to make ice cream a commercial product that everyone in society can enjoy.

Over 150 years later, and Johnson’s invention is still used today, e.g. a very similar model is still widely used in Guadeloupe and Martinique, which is often referred to as "West Indian Ice Cream Maker".[16]

The rights to the ice cream maker were sold to a kitchen wholesaler - William Young for $200. This due to the fact tha Nancy Johnson had no finances to produce the ice cream maker, and in order to make ice cream more of a commercial product rather than just made on your own.

Nancy’s patent is still used today with much more developed technologies, nonetheless, the main idea is there. The crank that scrapes frozen milk from the walls to expose a layer of milk not yet frozen. The consistent stirring and temperature results in a smoother ice cream texture.

The seemingly simple technology behind her idea has been utilized and improved over the decades to become what it is today. With all of the new improvements and the increasing popularity, ice cream has now grown to become a huge industry. It is a treat across America and around the world. Without Johnson’s hand cranked ice cream churn, ice cream would not be a common dessert enjoyed by many, but rather a dessert limited to only those of the upper class.[17] Johnson received $1500 during the course of her life for her patent.[18] She made her final changes to her patent on September 9th, 1843.[19] Despite Johnson’s success and future impact she had with the Artificial Freezer, she sold the rights of the patent to William G. Young, a Baltimore native, who then improved on the ice cream freezer on May 30th, 1848.[20] Johnson sold the rights of the patent to Young for $200.[21] Some of the improvements included a similar internal spatula covered with holes, however, the mechanics of the handle were changed make the ice cream much cooler, also simultaneously speeded up the process of freezing.[22] Today, ice cream is one of the most popular desserts in the world. Without Nancy Johnson's invention, the ice cream industry would not be where it is today. In 2019, about 6.4 billion pounds of ice cream and frozen yogurt were made in the U.S. Also, the ice cream industry has a major impact on the U.S. economy as it generates about 28,800 jobs and about $1.8 billion dollars in direct wages.[23]

• Patent US3254A