Donovan, Marion (1917-1998), invented modern disposable diapers. Her invention revolutionized baby care.
Marion O’Brien was born on Oct. 15, 1917, in South Bend, Indiana. As child, she spent many hours in her father’s metalworking factory. In 1939, she earned an English degree from Pennsylvania’s Rosemont College. In 1942, she married an importer named James Donovan and started a family in Westport, Connecticut.
After her second daughter was born in 1946, Donovan became frustrated by leaky cloth diapers. She cut up a shower curtain and sewed it into a waterproof, reusable diaper cover. Donovan created later designs from surplus nylon parachute cloth. She also replaced safety pins with snap fasteners.
Established manufacturers rejected Donovan’s invention, so she began making and marketing the diaper covers herself. Her product proved popular. In 1951, Donovan sold her successful business and diaper cover patents for $1 million. Meanwhile, she experimented with a new invention—disposable diapers made of sturdy, absorbent paper. By 1961, Procter & Gamble built on Donovan’s invention with Pampers, the first commercially successful brand of disposable diapers.
Donovan earned 20 patents in her lifetime, mostly for devices that made everyday domestic life more convenient. Her other innovations included a record-keeping book, a space-saving clothes hanger, and a device for zipping up women’s dresses in back. She died on Nov. 4, 1998.
