SHELBYVILLE, ILL. (WAND) - Josephine Cochran was born in Ohio, but planted roots in Shelbyville, Illinois. It was in Central Illinois where she made history. In 1886, Cochran obtained her first patent. This eventually grew into something bigger, what we know now as the dishwasher.
"She was a woman ahead of her time. She was very well educated. Very, very well educated," said Donna Lupton, treasurer at the Shelby County Historical & Genealogical Society.
Cochran invented the machine right in her Shelbyville backyard. It was not because she needed her dishes cleaned quicker. Cochran wanted a solution to keep her fine China from breaking in the process of cleaning.
"She built it in the back shed in a house that's located here in Shelbyville. She was getting tired of that. So, she said, why can't I do it? Why can't I invent something that'll wash the dishes? So, she did," said Lupton.
However, it wasn't so easy back then. As a woman, she had to jump through extra hoops to show the invention at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. She got creative and changed her name so she could participate.
"She put her name as J.G Cochran. Women back then, they weren't recognized," explained Lupton. "So, if she put her name in, they probably wouldn't let her in."
Due to the large size of the original design, hotels and larger restaurants bought into her idea first. It was not until the 1950's when households hopped on the dishwasher train. The original machine was manufactured by Garis-Cochran Dishwashing Company. It later became a part of KitchenAid after her death. Cochran's monument still stands strong in Shelbyville, Illinois.
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