Kenner's childhood, as she would describe it, was filled with looking for ways to improve on existing things. When she was twelve her family moved to Washington, D.C., where she would sometimes visit the US Patent Office wondering if other people had had the same ideas she did. She was a good enough student to enroll at Howard University but could not finish because of insufficient money. Moreover, Mary Kenner is remembered as the woman who invented a sanitary belt for women, gaining a patent for her invention in 1957. She patented several other things as well, including a carrying basket for people requiring walkers.