Latimer, Lewis Howard, 1848-1928

Variant names

Hide Profile

Lewis Howard Latimer (b. Sept. 4, 1848, Chelsea, MA-d. Dec. 11, 1928, Queens, NY) was the the youngest child of Rebecca and George Latimer. Lewis joined the U.S. Navy in 1863. He married Mary Wilson Lewis in 1873 and had two daughters, Emma Jeanette and Louise Rebecca. He began working as an office boy at a patent law firm in 1865 and soon began sketching patent drawings.

In 1874, he co-patented (with Charles W. Brown) an improved toilet system for railroad cars called the Water Closet for Railroad Cars. Alexander Graham Bell employed Latimer as a draftsman in 1876. Lewis was then hired as assistant manager and draftsman for the U.S. Electric Lighting Company, a company owned by Hiram Maxim. In 1881, Latimer, along with Joseph Nichols, invented a light bulb with a carbon filament, an improvement on Thomas Edison's original paper filament, which would burn out quickly; he received a second patent for an improved method for the production of light bulb carbon filaments in 1882. The Edison Electric Light Company hired Latimer in 1884 as a draftsman and an expert witness in patent litigation on electric lights. While at Edison, Latimer wrote the first book on electric lighting, Incandescent Electric Lighting (1890) and supervised the installation of public electric lights throughout New York, Philadelphia, Montreal, and London.

The Latimer family house is on Latimer Place in Flushing, Queens. It was moved from the original location to a nearby small park and turned into the Lewis H. Latimer House Museum in honor of the inventor.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Queens Borough Public Library. Long Island Division. Flushing, Afro-Americans : Latimer / [compiled by Queens Borough Public Library, Long Island Division]. Queens Borough Public Library
creatorOf Latimer, Lewis Howard, 1848-1928. Miscellany, 1919-1984. New York State Historical Documents (Albany, N.Y.)
referencedIn Program/Project Records, 1995-2002 Smithsonian Institution Archives
referencedIn Production Records, 1989-2001 Smithsonian Institution Archives
referencedIn Community Life Afro American Audiovisual Collection National Museum of American History (U.S.). Archives Center
referencedIn Harris, M. A., 1908-. Middleton "Spike" Harris papers, 1929-1977. Campbell University, Wiggins Memorial Library
referencedIn Thomas A. Edison collection, 1860-1980 (bulk 1860-1950). The Henry Ford, Benson Ford Research Center
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn ARTHUR E. KENNELLY NOTEBOOKS :: NOTEBOOK #6 (1892) Rutgers University
creatorOf LETTER FROM LEWIS HOWARD LATIMER TO THOMAS ALVA EDISON, JUNE 16TH, 1888 Rutgers University
Relation Name
associatedWith Bell, Alexander Graham, 1847-1922 person
employeeOf Edison Electric Light Company corporateBody
associatedWith Edison Pioneers corporateBody
associatedWith Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931. person
employeeOf General electric company corporateBody
associatedWith Harris, M. A., 1908- person
associatedWith Latimer Houses (Flushing, New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
honoredBy Massachusetts Institute of Technology corporateBody
memberOf Massasoit (Ship) corporateBody
associatedWith Maxim, Hiram S. (Hiram Stevens), 1840-1916 person
honoredBy National Inventors Hall of Fame (U.S.) corporateBody
associatedWith Queens Borough Public Library. Long Island Division. corporateBody
memberOf United States. Navy corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Chelsea MA US
United States 00 US
Queens NY US
Subject
African American inventors
Occupation
Electrical engineers
Inventors
Activity

Person

Birth 1848-09-04

Death 1928-12-11

Information

Permalink: http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6j96dzp

Ark ID: w6j96dzp

SNAC ID: 66821746