Scientist of the Day - Lewis H. Latimer

Portrait of Lewis H. Latimer, photograph, ca 1882, Queens Library (nytimes.com)

Lewis Howard Latimer, a Black American inventor and patent consultant, was born Sep. 4, 1848, in Chelsea, Mass. His parents were both escaped slaves. Latimer had only an elementary school education, and he enlisted in the U.S. Navy when he was 16 as a landsman, a cruel title that meant: "this person is not a seaman." After a year, he left the Navy and was hired by a patent law firm as a gofer. And here is where his intelligence and enterprise first showed itself, as he taught himself how to use drafting equipment and was soon making parent drawings for his firm. He obtained his first patent in 1874, for an improved toilet for railroad cars (no one seems to know if it was ever put to use).  Two years later, Latimer did the drawings for Alexander Graham Bell's patent application for his telephone – and he did it in a hurry, since Bell was in a race for patent rights.

Latimer’s original patent application for an improved method of attaching carbonized light-bulb filaments, 1881, on display at the Lewis H. Latimer House, Flushing, Queens, photo by Elliott Jerome Brown Jr. for The New York Times (nytimes.com)

In 1879, Latimer moved to Bridgeport, Conn. to work for the U.S. Electric Co., a rival of Thomas Edison's firm; in 1881, Latimer invented a better way to carbonize the filaments then being used in electric light bulbs, and he was awarded a patent. This led to Edison's taking notice, and Latimer was hired by Edison in 1884.  Interestingly, Edison used Latimer primarily as an expert witness in the many lawsuits that swirled around the invention of the light bulb. Later, in 1892, when General Electric was formed out of Edison's company and a few others, Latimer continued to serve the company in its legal department. 

The Lewis H. Latimer House, a museum in Flushing, Queens, photo by Elliott Jerome Brown Jr. for The New York Times (nytimes.com)

In 1903, Latimer bought a frame house in East Flushing, Queens, where he lived with his family until his death on Dec. 11, 1928. His children continued to live there for another generation.  In the 1980s, the house was scheduled for demolition to make way for a new building project. A variety of civic groups pointed out that there were very few residences of notable Black Americans surviving in Queens, and with lots of local and corporate support, land was acquired a mile and a half away, and the Latimer House was moved to 137th St. in Flushing and converted into a museum, the Lewis Latimer House. The going was hard for the next 25 years, but eventually additional funding was secured, and the house was completed renovated and reopened in 2024. The New York Times ran a lead story on the reopening on June 14, 2024, with excellent photos, as usual, several of which I have used here.

Interior view of the Lewis H. Latimer House Museum in Flushing, Queens (Wikimedia commons)

Looking at Latimer's portrait photo, I am guessing that he would have been an excellent witness in patent litigation. He looks intelligent, confident but not assertive, and not at all corporate – the kind of man whose opinion you would respect. He had come a long way from his days as a landsman.

A Flushing Freedom Mile sign in front of the historic Lewis H. Latimer House at the south end of Leavitt Park, Flushing, Queens (Wikimedia commons)

William B. Ashworth, Jr., Consultant for the History of Science, Linda Hall Library and Associate Professor emeritus, Department of History, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Comments or corrections are welcome; please direct to ashworthw@umkc.edu.