Lewis Latimer By Davelle Hunt 8th hour

Early Life Lewis was born on September 4, 1848 in Chelsea Massachusetts to parent who had fled slavery. He was the youngest of his 4 siblings and born to Rebecca and George Latimer. He was considered a slave, but he was defended by an abolitionist Frederick Douglass and WIlliam Lloyd Garrison. At 16 he lied about his age to get into the Navy during the Civil War He also taught himself mechanical drawing and drafting by watching the work of draftsman at the firm Eventually he was promoted to a draftsman at the firm and made his own inventions.

Biography Cont. He is responsible for the improvements of the air conditioner and railroad bathroom. He has invented a number of scientific and engineering breakthroughs He was involved in the invention of the telephone by working with Alexander Graham Bell, and he helped patent for Bell’s design of the phone. Latimer also had something to do with the field of incandescent lighting by working with Thomas Edison and Hiram Maxim. He married Mary Wilson in 1873, and they had 2 girls.

Early Life Lewis went to Phillips Grammar school in Chelsea. He had a passion for math and drafting, but his parents needed money so he went to work with his dad. Even with the 13th amendment he had a hard time finding a job Latimer was never offered the opportunity to obtain his skills from schooling. The drawings protected his invention from counterfeiters. Latimer studied day and night and watched the draftsmen

Biography He earned $20 a week at the firm after he got promoted to a higher position. Latimer was hired by a teacher for deaf kids to draft a device and wanted Lewis to draft necessary drawing. That teacher was Alexander Graham Bell and that device was the telephone. Also he had turned in his patent application hours before another inventor by the name of Elisha Gray for a similar device. The light bulb was composed of a glass bulb surrounded with carbon wire filament made of bamboo paper and thread The filament was burned in the inside of the bulb and it got hot so that is why it glowed.

Biography cont. He was involved in the Civil War veterans like the Grand Army of the Republic. He enjoyed playing the flute and writing poetry and plays. During his leisure time, he taught mechanical drawing and English to immigrants at the Henry Street settlement in New York He sadly passed away on December 11, 1928, in Flushing, Queens, New York.

Reflection Lewis Latimer has played an essential role in our society. He is a role model for myself because he had honorably served our country during the Civil War while defying the possibilities of slavery at a young age. I feel like he is the Jack Of all trades because he taught himself how to mechanical draw this inventions and he managed to work his way up in this society. He didn’t even go to school for this particular occupation and he was better than half of his co workers at his firm.

Reflection Cont. He is strong because he still remained optimistic even with discrimination going on that time. He has made a outstanding impact on African American inventor and has set the bar because he has invented numerous scientific and engineering breakthroughs that our still used to this day like bathroom compartments and the main component for the light bulb which would of took more years to discover. He was truly a brilliant man because he enjoyed other things off aside from his work like music.

Sources https://www.biography.com/people/lewis-howard-latimer-9374422 http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/inventors/latimer.htm http://blackinventor.com/lewis-latimer/ http://www.greatblackheroes.com/science/lewis-latimer/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Howard_Latimer