Charlotte Bridgwood

Charlotte Bridgwood ("née" Dunn, 18 August 1861 – 20 August 1929) was an American vaudeville performer and inventor.
Career.
She patented the first electrically powered windshield wiper in 1917, improving previous manually-operated wipers such as the one patented by Mary Anderson in 1905. However, her wiper used rollers rather than blades and did not catch on. She was also the mother of silent screen star Florence Lawrence who followed her mother in inventing automotive accessories.