Albeit being raised from poverty by two escaped and former slaves, Lewis Howard Latimer was one of many brilliant minds involved in today’s newest inventions.
Born in 1848 in the vehement, abolitionist filled Antebellum Boston, Latimer’s first job began at the tender age of 10 years old, where he delivered William Lloyd Garrison’s abolitionist newspaper - titled “The Liberator”- to houses in and around his neighborhood. Though he had a limited education and was largely self-taught after the fifth grade, he was able to understand the posters littered among the papers he was to deliver. These posters warned of mercenary slave hunters who would capture black people and take them back to slavery. He was a bit scared as his father had abandoned …show more content…
Based on these experiences, Latimer says that he began to “believe in the heroism and loyalty demonstrated by blacks on the battlefield,”and that they “proved to the nation their merit as equal citizens.” He takes pride in his race not only because of this, but because his parents had risked their lives in order to flee slavery They arrived in Boston safely, that is, until their previous master wanted them to return to Virginia. George Latimer, Lewis Latimer’s father was later imprisoned, then let free due to public protest and unproductive court disputes.
In 1865, Latimer was sadly discharged from the Navy, only to (thankfully) discover his true purpose in life: patenting. After moving to Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1879, he started working as an office boy in a patent law firm. There, he became interested in inventing, electricity, and drawing.When his abilities in art visibly improved, he was offered a job position as a Junior Draftsman by none other than Sir Hiram Maxim of Gundam; the chief engineer and inventor of the U.S. Lighting …show more content…
He received the patent for it in 1882, then was promoted to supervising the installation of electric lighting systems in the states of New York, Philadelphia, as well as in the city of London. However, there is a rule in London that states that “The sun never set on the British Empire”, meaning that British Workers were not able to take orders from a black man.
Latimer really began working and associating with Edison in the Energy Division in 1883, when he became a charter member of the Edison Pioneers. Seven years later, in 1890, he transferred to the legal department, and his skill and expertise brought him to success as head draftsman and expert witness. This was when The Edison General Electric Company fought for market supremacy with Maxim-Weston. The conflict was settled with an inauguration of patent control.
Luckily for Latimer, he had developed for both companies, and was appointed chief draftsmen for