Boston Herald- hometown celebrates African-American inventor, Chelsea native Lewis H. Latimer

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Item Information

Title:
Boston Herald- hometown celebrates African-American inventor, Chelsea native Lewis H. Latimer
Date:
February 19, 2002
Format:
Ephemera
Genre:
Clippings
Location:
Lewis H. Latimer Society & Museum
Collection (local):
Lewis H. Latimer Society Chelsea
Subjects:
Inventors
Engineers
Latimer, Lewis Howard, 1848-1928
Extent:
3 items
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/j0997f203
Terms of Use:
The Lewis H. Latimer Society, Inc. owns outright all of the materials in these collections.
This work is in the public domain under a Creative Commons No Rights Reserved License (CC0).
CC0 icon
Language:
English
Notes:
Title from accompanying material.
Lewis H. Latimer: Rediscover a discoverer by Azell Murphy Cavaan / Hometown celebrates African-American inventor, Chelsea native. / Imagine having to stand on a chair and twist a bulb every time you wanted to turn a light on or off. Or think of life without real-time telecommunication. / Indeed, the light switch and telephone are conveniences modern society uses without so much as a second thought. But few people recognize them as the inventions of Lewis H. Latimer, a black man who lived in Chelsea during the 1880s. / "You'll never find Latimer's name on anything that says he's behind the invention of the telephone," said Leo Robinson, city councilor and co-director of the Chelsea Lewis H. Latimer Society. "But it was Latimer who made the drawings, which Alexander Graham Bell then used for his telephone patent." / Robinson and his brother Ron, a social worker and longtime community activist founded the Latimer Society five years ago to raise public awareness of Lewis Howard Latimer's accomplishments. / The son of parents who escaped slavery in Virginia via the underground railroad, Latimer was born on Shawmut Street in Chelsea on Sept. 4, 1848. / By age 26, Latimer had established himself, both locally and nationally, as a talented scientist. / "He had only a fifth-grade education but he was a self-educated, ingenious man," Ron Robinson said. / In 1865, Latimer went to work as an office boy in the Boston law firm of Crosby and Gould. Nine years later, he invented a toilet that could operate on moving trains. That invention was followed, in 1876, by the drawings Alexander Graham Bell would use to patent the telephone. / Historians also credit Latimer with inventing the light bulb filament, the light switch, the globe used on electric lamps, an early version of the air conditioner, and a locking rack for hats, coats, umbrellas. / "Latimer would appear to me as someone we should have learned about growing up, said 53-year-old Ron Robinson, who along with his brother, was educated in Chelsea's public schools. / "But we were well into our adulthood the first time we heard any mention of him." / It was 1992 when a local family loaned the Robinsons a book about Latimer. The brothers were stunned to learn of Latimer's inventions and their city's connection to "such greatness." / The became convinced that wider knowledge of Latimer's life, philosophies, and contributions to the nation could inspire young people in Chelsea and foster a sense of pride. / "It's no secret that our city has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the state," Leo Robinson said. "Someone like Lewis H. Latimer could be a strong role model for our young people, but they have to know about him first." / Since learning about Latimer themselves, the brothers have introduced the late inventor to hundreds of Chelsea youths and others statewide. / The two have designed a traveling exhibit, which they present at elementary schools, high schools, and colleges. The Chelsea Public Library hosts a permanent exhibit. / Winifred Latimer Norman, Latimer's granddaughter and vice-president of the Latimer Fund in New York City (where Latimer spent the latter part of his life), said even she has learned new information about Latimer from the Robinsons. / "(The amount of work) the men have done is particularly impressive since Chelsea in the birthplace of my grandfather," said Norman, who is in her 90s. / Currently, the brothers are working with the Chelsea School Department in hopes of implementing workshops that will educate teachers and students about Latimer. / In coming months, the Robinsons hope to meet with the Massachusetts Department of Education to discuss the development of a history curriculum for all third- to fifth-grade students. / And while Latimer will be a central figure in any such curriculum, lesson plans would also include other important local black inventors such as Jan Erst Matzeliger. / Matzeliger, who was born in Lynn, invented the automatic shoe-making machine in the 1870s. / "We might promote black inventors like Latimer and Matzeliger, but what we really set out to do is bring cultures together and encourage young kids to get into science and technology," said Ron Robinson. / Inventors who molded America / Though their contributions are often excluded from history books, scores of black Americans have changed the nation with their inventions. Here's a sampling: / Automatic gear shift: Richard Spikes, 1932 / Baby carriage: W.H. Richardson, 1899 / Bicycle frame: L.R. Johnson, 1899 / Clothes dryer: G. T. Sampson, 1862 / Elevator: Alexander Miles, 1867 / Far-ultra-violet camera/spectrograph (camera designed to study Earth's upper atmosphere): George R. Carruthers, 1960s. / Fire escape ladders: J.W. Winters, 1878 / Gas mask: Garrett Morgan, 1914 / Hinton-Davies Test (a method of testing for venereal disease syphilis): William A. Hinton, 1930s / Lawn mower: L.A. Burr, 1889 / Open heart surgery: Daniel H. Williams, 1893 / Refrigerator refinements: J. Standard, 1891 / Rotary steam engine: Andrew Beard, 1892 / Spark plug: Edmond Berger, 1839 / Stove: T.A. Carrington, 1876 / Thermostat control for refrigeration in trucking: Frederick M. Jones, 1949 / Traffic light: Garrett Morgan, 1923 / Typewriter: Burridge and Marshman, 1885
Notes (date):
Date from item or accompanying material.
Notes (object):
Two items are copies of the original articles.
Identifier:
5_4_39