Ann Moore Innovative Lives Presentation
name: label: Creator
content: Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
label: Creator
content: Berger, Sondra
label: Creator
content: Moore, Ann, 1940-
label: Creator
content: Moore, Mike
label: Names
content: Auckerman, Lucy
place: label: Place
content: Africa, French-speaking West
title: label: Topic
content: Innovative Lives Program (NMAH public program series)
label: Topic
content: Snguli baby carrier
label: Topic
content: Weego Baby Carrier
topic: label: Topic
content: Infants -- Care
label: Topic
content: Inventions -- 1950-2000
label: Topic
content: Inventors -- 1950-2000
label: Topic
content: Slides
label: Topic
content: Women inventors
label: Topic
content: Women inventors -- 20th century
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This collection was recorded by the Innovative Lives Program of the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation on October 15, 1999.
creator: label: Creator
content: Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
label: Creator
content: Berger, Sondra
label: Creator
content: Moore, Ann, 1940-
label: Creator
content: Moore, Mike
setName: label: See more items in
content: Ann Moore Innovative Lives Presentation
abstract: label: Summary
content: Ann Moore is the inventor of the Snugli baby carrier and Air Lift oxygen carrier.  The collection contains original, master, and reference videos, audiocassette recordings, and transcripts documenting Moore's inventive career.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Ann Moore was born in 1940 in a small Ohio farming community and studied pediatric nursing at the University of Cincinnati.  She joined the Peace Corps in 1962 as part of a medical team and was sent to Togo.  She met her husband Mike Moore during training.  While in Togo, Ann Moore noticed that most women tied their babies onto their backs with a long piece of fabric, which made the babies more content.  Back in Colorado, Moore wanted to carry her newborn daughter Mandela in the same way.  With the assistance of her mother, Lucy Aukerman, Moore designed the first Snugli baby carrier in 1969 (US Patent 3,481,517).  She patented the Snugli in 1984 (US Patent 4,434,920).  Snugli, Inc. grew from a small company where each Snugli was handmade by Aukerman and her neighbors to a large company with an international presence and a factory in Colorado.  In 1985 Ann and Mike Moore sold Snugli, Inc. to Gerico, a Huffy Company.  In 1986 Ann invented Air Lift, a soft mesh backpack oxygen carrier so people on oxygen could be more mobile (US Patent 4,739,913). 

Ann and Mike Moore became disappointed in how Gerico had simplified the Snugli design so it could be manufactured less expensively so in 1999 the Moores launched Weego, a soft baby carrier similar to the original Snugli.  The Weego has some modern improvements, including an adjustable buckle around the top of the carrier instead of pin tucks.    
The Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation was founded in 1995 at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History through a generous gift from the Lemelson Foundation. The Center's mission is to document, interpret, and disseminate information about invention and innovation; to encourage inventive creativity in young people; and to foster an appreciation for the central role invention and innovation plays in the history of the United States. The Innovative Lives series brings together Museum visitors and especially school age children, and American inventors to discuss inventions and the creative process and to experiment and play with hands-on activities related to each inventor's product. This collection was recorded by the Innovative Lives Program of the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2 Cubic feet (5 boxes , BetaCamSP, 1/2 inch VHS videotapes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1999-10
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Collection transferred from the Lemelson Center to the Archives Center on November 15, 1999.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0706
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Audio cassettes
label: Type
content: Betacam sp (videotape format)
label: Type
content: Floppy disks
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Oral history
label: Type
content: Videotapes
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into five series.

Series 1: Original videos, 1999

Series 2: Master videos, 1999

Series 3: Audiocassettes, 1999

Series 4: Reference videos, 1999

Series 5: Supplemental documentation, 1999
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Kimberly Kennedy (intern), August, 2010; supervised by Alison Oswald, archivist.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Original videos digitized in 2014. See repository for details.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Audio cassettes -- 1990-2000
label: Genre/Form
content: BetaCam SP (videotape format)
label: Genre/Form
content: Floppy disks
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews -- 1980-2000
label: Genre/Form
content: Oral history -- 1990-2000
label: Genre/Form
content: Videotapes -- 1990-2000
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This collection contains 5.5 hours of original BetaCam SP recordings, 5.5 hours of master video copies, 5.5 hours of reference copies, 5.5 hours of audiocassette recordings, transcripts, and articles documenting the life and work of Ann Moore, inventor of the Snugli baby carrier and Air Lift oxygen carrier. The recordings include a presentation by Ann and Mike Moore for the Lemelson Center's Innovative Lives Program. Audience participants include students from Seven Locks Elementary School in Bethesda, Maryland; Burrville Elementary School in Washington, D.C.; Barrett Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia; and Jefferson Junior High School in Washington, D.C.  Ann Moore's interview includes footage of her home in Colorado and discussions with users of the Air Lift oxygen carrier and Weego baby carrier.