Lewis Latimer was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts on September 4, 1848.  His parents, George and Rebecca were slaves in Virginia but had runaway to Massachusetts living as free citizens. This is where Latimer was born.  At fifteen years old, Latimer enlisted in the United States Navy and returned to Boston once the Civil War ended.  In 1868, he secured a job as an office boy in the Crosby and Gould patent law firm. While he was employed at the firm, he taught himself mechanical drawing.  He learned to use the tools of the trade, such as T-squares, triangles, compasses, and rulers mastering the art of drawing to scale.

Latimer was surrounded by genius throughout his career having been associated with the great Alexander Graham Bell!  In fact, Latimer drafted the drawings that Bell used to patent the first telephone. Bell was in a race to have his invention patented before anyone else registered with a similar device. Working with Latimer late at night, Latimer was able to provide Bell with the blueprints and expertise in submitting applications.  This expertise allowed Bell to file his telephone patent on February 14, 1876, a few hours earlier than that of rival inventors. They had won the race!  

In 1880, Latimer began working as a mechanical draftsman with Hiram Maxim an inventor and   the founder of the U.S. Electric Lighting Company in Brooklyn, NY.  Here, Latimer became familiar with the field of electric incandescent lighting. There was fierce competition in the field to secure patents. In 1881, after many trials and errors. Latimer patented the carbon filament to be used in incandescent lightbulbs.  It was this invention that helped make electric lighting practical and affordable for the average household.  A luxury we are still using today! 

In 1884 Lewis Latimer was invited to work for Thomas Edison in New York.  Edison encouraged Latimer to write the book, Incandescent Electric Lighting:  A Practical Description of the Edison System.  Published in 1890, it was extremely popular as it explained how an incandescent lamp produces light in an easy-to-understand manner.  On February 11, 1918, Latimer became one of the 28 charter members of the Edison Pioneers; the only African -American in this prestigious, highly selective group. 

Latimer’s children had a book of his poems printed in 1925 in honor of his 77^th birthday. The poems are sensitive and complement Latimer’s designation as a “Renaissance Man” who painted, played the flute, wrote poetry and plays.  Search the Queens Borough Public Library website to find out more about Lewis Latimer.  Watch here for more stories of Black notables.

Mrs. Jackson has humbly served in education for 20 years and even had the honor of teaching at her high school alma mater eleven of those years.  Born and raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, she developed a respect and love for learning from her dad, who served in World War II and her mother, who was an avid reader.  Mrs. Jackson graduated from Salem College where she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and a Master of Arts in Teaching.  It was not until she was blessed to meet and marry her husband that she moved to Florida four years ago.  Then in 2019, Mrs. Jackson was thrilled to be given the opportunity to join the outstanding team of teachers, students, staff, and administrators at Freeport Middle School.  As a 7^th grade ELA teacher, she brings a wealth of educational experience, hard-work ethic, and professionalism to the classroom.  

-Teaching is not what I do…it’s who I am-

Antonio Harrison is proud to be part of the WCSD family. 

Antonio is a veteran teacher with more than a decade of experience teaching in Alabama and Florida. He is joining us for his first year at Walton High School as an ESE teacher and football coach.  Coach Harrison is a graduate of the University of Alabama and holds and MBA from the Auburn University System.

The invention of Alexander Miles’ elevator doors dramatically improved safety for passengers. Early elevators were different from the mostly automated devices we’re familiar with today.  Passengers in any elevator in the late 1880s and early 1900s had to manually open and close doors including the doors leading to the actual elevator shaft.  If the door was accidentally left open, other passengers could fall down the shaft when expecting to step into the elevator.  Alexander Miles invented a device that triggered the shaft doors to open and close along with the elevator doors, which made the elevator ride much safer.  Although rarely connected with this invention, we can all agree Miles’ ingenuity and foresight plays an integral part of our 21^st Century world.  In fact, the elevators we use currently still feature automatic shaft doors similar to the invention Miles Patented in 1887!

Miles’ exact birthplace and birthdate are unknown, but he was living in Duluth, Minnesota when he came up with his famous invention.  For more history and African American collections, and preserved culture visit the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at www.nypl.org.