Inventor database
Verified
Lewis Howard Latimer
Draftsman and electrical pioneer who made light bulbs last
At a glance
- Inventor
- Lewis Howard Latimer
- Life
- 1848–1928
- Birthplace
- Chelsea, Massachusetts
- Country
- United States
- Region
- United States
- Era
- 1800s
- Fields
- Science & Engineering, Everyday Life
- Evidence
- Verified
- Records
- 1 in this archive
What they did
Son of formerly enslaved parents, Latimer taught himself mechanical drawing, drafted the patent drawings for Alexander Graham Bell's telephone application, and patented an improved process for manufacturing carbon filaments.
Historical context
Early incandescent lamps burned out in hours. Filament manufacture was inconsistent and expensive, which kept electric light a luxury.
The legacy
Latimer supervised installation of electric lighting in New York, Philadelphia, Montréal and London, wrote the first widely used textbook on incandescent lighting (1890), and was the only Black member of the Edison Pioneers.
The evidence
US Patent 252,386 — Process of manufacturing carbons
Lewis H. Latimer papers