| Vesta Stoudt | |
| Birth Date: | April 13, 1891 |
| Birth Place: | Prophetstown, Illinois, US |
| Death Date: | May 9, 1966 |
| Death Place: | Prophetstown, Illinois, US |
| Known For: | Duct tape invention |
| Occupation: | Factory worker |
Vesta Oral Stoudt (April 13, 1891 – May 9, 1966) was a factory worker during the Second World War famous for her letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt suggesting the use of adhesive tape to improve ammunition boxes.
During the Second World War, Stoudt worked at the Green River Ordnance Plant in Amboy, Illinois packing ammunition boxes.[1] She recognized that the way ammunition boxes were sealed made them difficult for soldiers to open in a hurry.[2] [3] She suggested this idea to her bosses at work, who did not implement the change.[4] On February 10, 1943, she wrote a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt explaining the problem and offering a solution:
Roosevelt approved of the idea which he sent to the War Production Board, who wrote back to Stoudt:
They tasked the Revolite Corporation to create the product. Stoudt received the Chicago Tribune War Worker Award for her idea and for her persistence with it. She is credited by Johnson and Johnson (the parent company of Revolite Corporation at the time) for the invention of duct tape.[5]
Vesta Wildman married Harry Issac Stoudt on 19 October 1910 in Morgan, Illinois. They went on to have eight children.
Vesta O. Stoudt died age 75 at the Whiteside County Nursing Home in Prophetstown, on May 9, 1966, following a long illness.