About Lewis Howard Latimer
Lewis Howard Latimer was an American inventor and patent draftsman. His inventions included an evaporative air conditioner, an improved process for manufacturing carbon filaments for electric light bulbs, and an improved toilet system for railroad cars. In 1884, he joined the Edison Electric Light Company where he worked as a draftsman. The Lewis H. Latimer House, his landmarked former residence, is located near the Latimer Projects at 34–41 137th Street in Flushing, Queens, New York City. While Latimer was there he invented a modification to the process for making carbon filaments which aimed to reduce breakages during the carbonization process. On February 11, 1918, Latimer joined the Edison Pioneers, becoming the first person of color to do so. Shortly after their arrival, George Latimer was arrested under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, and his case became a widely publicized abolitionist cause. While at Edison, Latimer wrote the first book on electric lighting, entitled Incandescent Electric Lighting (1890), and supervised the installation of public electric lights throughout New York, Philadelphia, Montreal, and London.
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