Martha Coston was a young widow with children to take care of. She was from Philadelphia. Her invention of a system of maritime signal flares, helped the North during the Civil War.

She found the idea of signaling flares in her dead husband's notebooks. She was determined to see the invention come to life. She wanted the flares to be capable of being seen and safe for the ships to use.

Coston worked and was in charge of chemists to work on the flares. She finally invented and patented a system of red, white and green "Pyrotechnic Night Signals" that worked well. The U.S. Navy soon bought the rights and the flares were on the ships.

Being a woman, she knew that money and working conditions for women were not equal to that of men. Coston triumphed, and became proof that women could invent in any place if they did not give in and were determined.