Lewis Howard Latimer

Infobox Person|

= name = Lewis Howard Latimer


image_size = 250px
caption = Latimer in 1882
birth_date = September 4, 1848
birth_place = Chelsea, Massachusetts
death_date = December 11, 1928
death_place = New York City, New YorkUSA
occupation = Inventor
spouse = Mary Wilson
parents = George Latimer (1818-c1880)
children = Jeanette and Louise

Lewis Howard Latimer (September 4, 1848 – December 11, 1928) was an African American inventor and draftsman. Though Thomas Alva Edison is credited with the invention of the light bulb, Latimer made significant contributions to its further development. cite web|url=http://americanhistory.si.edu/exhibitions/small_exhibition.cfm?key=1267&exkey=143&pagekey=227|title=Lewis Latimer Drawing|publisher=National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution|accessdate=2008-08-05] cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Lewis H. Latimer Dead. Member of Edison Pioneers. Drew Original Plans for Bell Phone. |url= |quote= |publisher=New York Times |date=December 13, 1928, Thursday |accessdate=2007-07-21 ]

Early life

Lewis Howard Latimer was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts on September 4, 1848 as the youngest of the four children of Rebecca (1826-1848) and George Latimer (July 4, 1818 Fouché, Rayvon, "Black Inventors in the Age of Segregation: Granville T. Woods, Lewis H. Latimer, and Shelby J. Davidson." The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore & London, 2003, ISBN 0-8018-7319-3] -c.1880). George Latimer had been the slave of James B. Gray of Virginia. George Latimer ran away to freedom in Trenton, New Jersey in October, 1842, along with his wife Rebecca, who had been the slave of another man. When Gray, the owner, appeared in Boston to take them back to Virginia, it became a noted case in the movement for abolition of slavery, gaining the involvement of such abolitionists as William Lloyd Garrison. Eventually funds were raised to pay Gray $400 for the freedom of George Latimer. One of Lewis's siblings was named William H. Latimer (1846-1892), who worked as a barber.

He joined the U.S. Navy at the age of 15 on September 16,1864. After receiving an honorable discharge from the Navy on July 3, 1865, he gained employment as an office boy with a patent law firm, "Crosby Halstead and Gould", with a $3.00 per week salary. He learned how to use an L square, ruler, and other tools. Later, after his boss recognized his talent for sketching patent drawings, Latimer was promoted to the position of head draftsman earning $20.00 a week by 1878. . In 1874, he copatented (with Charles W. Brown) an improved toilet system for railroad cars called the Water Closet for Railroad Cars (U.S. Patent 147,363), the first of many patents.

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell employed Latimer to draft the necessary drawings required to receive a patent for Bell's telephone. He did this in his capacity as draftsman at the firm of Bell's patent law firm. [2]

In 1879, he moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut with his brother, William, his mother, Rebecca, and his wife. Lewis was hired as assistant manager and draftsman for the U.S. Electric Lighting Company, a company owned by Hiram Maxim, a rival of inventor Thomas Edison. Latimer received a patent in January 1881 for the "Process of Manufacturing Carbons", an improved method for the production of carbon filaments for lightbulb. The Edison Electric Light Company in New York City hired Latimer in 1884, as a draftsman and an expert witness in patent litigation on electric lights. Latimer was also an Edison Pioneer, a group of those that had worked for Edison companies over the years. Latimer never worked directly for Thomas Edison, or in Edison's lab. [3]

Personal life

He married Mary Wilson on December 10, 1873 and later had two daughters, Janette and Louise. Mary was born in Rhode Island.

Inventions

In 1874, he copatented (with Charles W. Brown) an improved toilet system for railroad cars called the "Water Closet for Railroad Cars" (U.S. Patent 147,363), the first of many patents.

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell employed Latimer to draft the necessary drawings required to receive a patent for Bell's telephone. He did this in his capacity as draftsman at the firm of Bell's patent law firm.

In 1879, he moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut with his brother, William, his mother, Rebecca, and his wife. Lewis was hired as assistant manager and draftsman for the U.S. Electric Lighting Company, a company owned by Hiram Maxim, a rival of inventor Thomas Edison. Latimer received a patent in January 1881 for the "Process of Manufacturing Carbons", an improved method for the production of carbon filaments for lightbulb. The Edison Electric Light Company in New York City hired Latimer in 1884, as a draftsman and an expert witness in patent litigation on electric lights. Latimer was also an Edison Pioneer, a group of those that had worked for Edison companies over the years. Latimer in his later years worked for Edison. [cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/archive/edis/edifun/edifun_4andup/faqs_fables.htm#steal |title=Lewis Howard Latimer |accessdate=2007-06-10 |publisher=National Park Service |work= ]

Legacy

Latimer is an inductee of the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his work on electric filament manufacturing techniques. [List of 2006 NIHF inductees http://www.invent.org/2006Induction/historical2006.asp]

Latimer's home has been moved to a small park in Flushing, New York and turned into a museum in honor of the inventor. [Historic House Trust NYC http://www.historichousetrust.org/item.php?i_id=39]

A set of apartment houses in Flushing are known as "Latimer Gardens". [Latimer Gardens Apartments http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycha/html/developments/queenslatimer.shtml]

P.S. 56 in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, is named Lewis H. Latimer School in Latimer's honor.

External links

*IEEE|latimer.html
* [http://webfiles.uci.edu/mcbrown/display/latimer.html Lewis Howard Latimer: Inventor, Engineer (Mechanical and Electrical)]
* [http://home.frognet.net/~ejcov/latimer.html Bibliography about Latimer and scans of pages from his book]
* [http://invention.smithsonian.org/centerpieces/ilives/latimer/latimer.html Lewis Latimer: Renaissance Man by the Smithsonian Institution]
* [http://invention.smithsonian.org/downloads/latimer_manual.pdf Teachers' guide by Luvenia George on Latimer. the Smithsonian Institution]
* [http://edison.rutgers.edu/latimer/blueprnt.htm "Blueprint for Change", a 1995 exhibition honoring Latimer at the which holds a collection of his papers and artifacts.]
* [http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bllatimer.htm About.com]
* [http://www.blackinventor.com/pages/lewislatimer.html Profile of Lewis Latimer] - The Black Inventor Online Museum
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10420881 Lewis Howard Latimer] at Find A Grave

Patents

*US patent|147363 "Water closets for railway cars," February 10, 1874
*US patent|247097 "Electric lamp," (with Nichols, Joseph V.), September 13, 1881
*US patent|252386 "Process of Manufacturing Carbons," January 17, 1882,
*US patent|255212 "Globe supporter for electric lamps," (with Tregoning, John), March 21, 1882
*US patent|334078 "Apparatus for cooling and disinfecting," January 12, 1886
*US patent|557076 "Locking rack for hats, coats, and umbrellas," March 24, 1896
*US patent|968787 "Lamp fixture,"(with Brown, Charles W),August 30, 1910

References

Further reading

*cite book
title=Incandescent Electric Lighting
author=Lewis Howard Latimer, C. J. Field, John White Howell
year=1890
publisher=D. Van Nostrand company
isbn=
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=RlY4AAAAMAAJ&pg=PP4&dq=inauthor:lewis+inauthor:latimer+date:1870-1890&lr=&as_brr=0&ei=zT7IR9a-G7ngiwH0qMDECw#PPA3,M1

=