Lewis
Howard Latimer was born in Boston on December 4, 1848. How
that came to be is an epic story in its own right.
His father, George W. Latimer, the son of a White man and enslaved mother, and his wife Rebecca fled from slavery in Virginia by
ship. Traveling north via Baltimore and Philadelphia with prices on their heads and pursued by slave catchers, the young couple
arrived in Boston on October 8, 1842. By
mischance Latimer was spotted by a Virginian who recognized him as the
slave clerk in James Gray’s Norfolk shop. He was immediately arrested under the Fugitive
Slave Act of 1793 to be held until his master
could claim him.
The case aroused uproar among
the growing number of abolitionists in
the city. In fact, this became the first
time they were roused to public action to protect and free
an escaped slave—a landmark in the evolution of the movement. One attempt was made to storm the jail to free the prisoner. Later, when an agent for Gary arrived
in town, hundreds surrounded the jail to prevent him from being removed. Historically significant lawsuits were launched in Latimer’s defense. Tensions rose between the
abolitionists and pro-slavery forces in the city including warring pamphlets and publications. The Latimer
and North Star Journal was a newspaper issued several times a
week edited by Henry Ingersoll Bowditch,
William F. Channing, and Frederick Cabot. Public meetings were held, including one at Faneuil Hall where attendees not only vowed
resistance to slave-catching but
also voted for disunion if Federal
enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act continued.
A Latimer Committee circulated two petitions, the Great Massachusetts Petition and the Great Petition to Congress, about the
case. The former demanded a law banning
the involvement of state officials or public
property in the detention or arrest of suspected fugitives and was
delivered to the State Assembly
containing 64,526 signatures and
weighing 150 pounds.
Representative
John Quincy Adams laid the Federal petition before Congress where it was immediately tabled and condemned setting off years of conflict between the former President and the Southerners who controlled the House
of Representatives.
Eventually, in 1843 Massachusetts
adopted the Personal Liberty Act, or
Latimer Law based on the demands of
the petitions. The new Federal Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, among other things, voided the Massachusetts law and similar statutes adopted by other Northern states and compelled local authorities to assist slave
catchers.
Meanwhile, the Latimer Committee
raised $400 to finally purchase his freedom from Gray. The Committee would give rise to the
organization of the New England Freedom
Association and increased collective
action in the Black community of
Massachusetts.
George Latimer upon gaining his
freedom became an active abolitionist himself.
He prospered as a paper hanger
and together with his wife raised four children, the youngest of the
Lewis. In gratitude for the
support of the abolitionists who helped secure his freedom the family joined
and remained active members of a Unitarian
congregation from which many supporters had come.
Although the United States Navy became rigidly segregated in the 20th Century, during the Civil War Black sailors like this young recruit served along side Whites on integrated ships.
Lewis, like the other Latimer
children, received a good education and literally grew up in the
abolitionist movement. Naturally, when
the Civil War broke out, he was
eager to serve, but frustrated by his youth. Finally on September 16, 1863, just days
after his 15th birthday, he lied about his age—not that authorities
were all that concerned—and enlisted in the Navy. He served as a Landsman, then the lowest enlisted rank performing common
labor aboard the USS Massasoit, a side wheel steam gunboat. He was on board for anti-raider patrol along the New
England Coast and then blockade and
picket duty off of Virginia ports
and on the James River. In January of 1865 the Massasoit engaged in a dual with shore
batteries at Howlett’s House. Latimer was honorably discharged in July, 1865.
Returning to Boston the 17 year old,
perhaps via contacts of his father in the abolitionist movement, was able to secure
employment as an office boy with
the patent law firm of Crosby Halstead & Gould for $3.00
per week. While sweeping floors,
emptying trash cans, and running errands, Latimer carefully observed
the office’s draftsmen preparing patent applications. He bought his own drafting tools and began practicing at home. Within a few years he was promoted to
draftsman and by 1872 was head draftsman
pulling down a respectable $20 a week.
That was still, however, less than the White men he supervised
were paid.
On the strength of such prosperity
Latimer was able to marry Mary Wilson
Lewis of Providence, Rhode Island
the next year. The couple would have
two daughters, Emma Jeanette in 1883 and Louise
Rebecca in 1890.
Working as a draftsman sparked
Latimer’s own interest in invention.
In 1874 he and Charles W. Brown co-patented
the Water Closet for Railroad Cars,
an improved toilet system for passenger cars.
It was a remarkable achievement,
and the young man was getting noticed for his skills. One who took note was a teacher of the deaf, Alexander Graham Bell. In 1876 Bell had built and used in his laboratory a telephone device. He knew
that others were doing similar work and a race to be first to
file a patent was on. Bell contacted
Latimer and the two of them worked together furiously at night after spending
their days at their regular employment, to prepare the application which
was filed just four hours before Bell’s competition filed. Latimer testified in the complicated legal
challenges to Bell’s patent from his competitors.
After 11 years with Crosby Halstead &
Gould, Latimer was ready to strike out on his own. In 1879 he re-settled his family, including
his extended clan of siblings to Bridgeport,
Connecticut, then a leading industrial center known for its technological
innovation and where the Mayor was
showman, liberal reformer,
and Universalist P.T. Barnum. Latimer was hired as assistant manager and draftsman by Hiram Maxim, a rival of Thomas
A. Edison for his U.S. Electric
Lighting Company.
Although Edison had invented and
demonstrated his incandescent light bulb
it was still not practical for extended use because the paper filament he used would burn
out within hours. If you watched the
bio-flick Edison, The Man with Spencer
Tracy you may think that the great man got the idea to char bamboo fiber to create a carbon filament from gazing at his
fraying fishing rod. That would be a mistake.
In 1881 Latimer working for the
Maxim company, won the patent for the Process
of Manufacturing Carbons that made the light bulb practical. Edison was irked but recognized
Latimer’s talent. In 1884 he hired
Latimer away for his Edison Electric
Light Company in New York City
as a draftsman and an expert witness
in patent litigation on electric lights.
With Edison, he became a key member of the team working on
development of electric lighting. He
made further improvements to the filament and invented or made significant
contributions to other essential improvements—the threaded socket; the oven,
chemicals, and glassblowing equipment for the glass
globe; and a new switch. In the field he was trusted by Edison to oversee
installation of public lighting
systems in New York, Philadelphia,
Montreal, and London.
Of course, Edison took credit
for these innovations. But he valued
Latimer and paid him well, including stock in what became General Electric. In 1918 he was the only African American selected as one of the 28 charter members of Edison’s
Pioneers.
Latimer continued to tinker on
his own and filed more patents including one for a locking coat and hat rack to combat the chronic theft
of garments from restaurants,
barber shops, and other establishments. He also patented an apparatus for cooling and disinfecting, an
early forerunner of air
conditioning.
By the turn of the 20th Century,
he was if not a truly wealthy man,
he was a very comfortable one.
Along with other leading Black intellectuals at the time, he insisted
on full equality of opportunity for his race. He built a large, elegant house in
developing Flushing, Queens, an all-White
neighborhood. In 1908 he became a founding
member of what is now the Unitarian
Universalist Congregation of Queens.
Latimer inscribed this photo to his wife in 1919 at age 70.
He was a man of wide ranging
interests. He played violin and flute, occasionally hosting house
concerts with his daughters, He wrote and published a book of
poetry and wrote and produced a play. In his 1890 book Incandescent Electric Lighting: A
Practical Description of the Edison System Latimer waxed poetic
about the achievement, “Like the light of the sun, it beautifies all things on
which it shines, and is no less welcome in the palace than in the humblest
home.”
Latimer died on December 11,
1928 at the age of 80 mourned in the small circle of his fellow
electrical pioneers, in his community, and in his congregation. The general public scarcely knew of
his existence.
His granddaughter, Winifred
Latimer Norman, a member of Fourth
Universalist Society in New York, became the custodian of his legacy
and worked tirelessly to bring his accomplishments to light. She saw her childhood home moved to a Flushing
park where it stands today as a museum
maintained by the National Park Service. Also, in his old neighborhood an apartment complex and a public school are named for him. At his old congregation, his portrait hangs
in place of honor as a founder. The
granddaughter died on February 6, 2014 at the age of 100.
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