Lewis Latimer Early Years
Lewis H Latimer was born in 1848 in Chelsea Massachusetts, the son of two escaped and later free'd slaves. Latimer's father, George Latimer escaped slavery and fled to Boston to seek freedom. George Latimer went on to publish the Latimer Journal, an abolitionist's publication. Not only did George Latimer escape slavery, he was literate and a published author, quite an accomplishment in pre-civil war society.
Lewis Latimer served our country as a Landsman in the US Navy, one of his first accomplishments as an African American in the United States. Latimer would leave the Navy on honorable discharge and take employment as an office assistance at Crosby Halstead and Gould, a patent law firm in 1867. It is here that young Lewis Latimer would observe the draftsman on staff drawing graphic representations for patent applications. Latimer was influenced by these draftsmen and found a natural talent for drafting and became proficient in using drafting tools. By 1872 Latimer had achieved the position of head draftsman at Crosby Halstead and Gould.
Latimer would move to Boston and take several employment positions as a master draftsman and finally land at the United States Electric Lighting Company as the assistant to Hiram S. Maxim. In late 1879 Thomas Edison successfully produced a working high resistance carbon filament incandescent lamp. Alongside of his work on the lamp, Edison designed a complete system of incandescent lighting. This system covered the lamps, sockets, switches, fuses, dynamo's, regulators, meters, etc....a first for the industry. While Maxim and others were working toward a viable electric incandescent lamp, it was Edison who first achieved a market ready product. Maxim was also the first to simply take the concepts behind Edison's lamp and use them to create a version of his own. In other words, Maxim "stole" Edison's form of a fully fused glass envelope, a high resistance carbon filament, platinum lead in wires to enter the lamp with a vacuum tight seal, and a high vacuum, infringing on Edison's patent of January 27, 1880.
Latimer was indispensable in USEL Co's operations and personally assisted the companies earliest installations. Maxim claimed to have sold the first commercial installation on land (Edison had beat him to the chase in the installation on the SS Columbia), in the Equitable Life B building in New York, in which the USEL Co. rented space. When USEL expanded operations into Europe, it was Latimer and his wife who were sent to England to train the glassblowers how to manufacture the Maxim lamp. It was in the UK that the Latimer's were challenged with racism, something that Latimer had not experienced in his adult life in the US.
In 1882 Latimer took employment at the ACME Electric Light Co, where he designed an incandescent lamp. This lamp was made in small numbers as an experimental device and never saw mass production.
For a short time Latimer joined his old associate from USEL Charles Perkins at the Imperial Electric Light Co, Latimer served once again a general assistant and draftsman. Imperial Electric appears to have served as a patent holding shell for the designs of Charles Perkins. Charles Perkins and Lewis Latimer joined the Mather Electric Co (Mather would eventually purchase the Imperial/Perkins patents in 1888). Latimer's time at Mather would be very short.
In late 1884* Lewis Latimer took employment at the Edison Electric Light Co. Latimer served in assisting Edison's legal defense. From the beginning of Edison's electric lighting success, those who chose to exploit that success for their own benefit emerged. Latimer was of great importance to Edison's defense as he has worked for several of those who Edison was suing for patent infringement. It was Latimer who would ultimately debunk the "Goebel Defense" that helped the Edison company clear their rights to the patents for the successful incandescent lamp.
In 1890 Latimer co-authored the book Incandescent Lighting A Practical Description of the Edison System.
Latimer would continue to work for the General Electric Company formed in 1892 as a result of the merge between the Edison General Electric Co. and Thomson Houston. Latimer retained this position until 1911.
In 1911 Latimer joined the engineering firm Edwin Hammer, one of Edison's early associates from the Menlo Park laboratory days. Latimer would remain connected to Edison in some fashion until his passing.
In 1918 the Edison Pioneers organization was formed. This group stood to protect the legacy of the work done by associates of Edison 1885 and prior. Lewis Latimer was a charter member and it was at this point that Latimer would meet Mr. Edison for the first time.
Latimer passed away in 1928 at the age of 80.
*Latimer states himself 1884, other sources state 1885. It would be appropriate to infer that this event took place in late 1884 or early 1885