“I really wanted the product to happen. That’s the only way it was going to go forward,” she said.
Crane largely kept her role private for decades, assuming few people would believe that a graphic designer—not a chemist or physician—had invented the first home pregnancy test.
That changed after she read a 2012 New York Times article about pregnancy tests that omitted her contribution. She still had her original prototype tucked away in a shoebox, eventually auctioning it to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, where it helped bring renewed attention to her story.
A follow-up New York Times feature inspired playwright Jennifer Blackmer to write “Predictor,” which traces Crane’s determination to bring women a revolutionary new tool despite corporate resistance and cultural expectations.
The play blends comedy, surrealism and history while exploring themes of bodily autonomy and women’s agency.