Biographies
P. B. Downing
Not much is known about P. B. Downing, but his mailbox, patented in
1891 is still in use. You can recognize it as the small, cast-iron,
red-white-and-blue box that is usually found mounted to a pole or wall.
To open it requires lifting a small, fairly heavy cover that closes
rather firmly when let go. While the cover is open, a metal plate is
engaged inside the box that prevents access to the box's interior.
- Bill Clearlake -
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Lewis H. Latimer
In 1876, "The Edison Pioneers" stated that, Lewis Howard
Latimer "...executed the drawings and assisted in preparing the
application for the telephone patents of Alexander Graham Bell."
In 1880 Lewis Howard Latimer developed and patented the method for making
carbon filaments. These were used in Hiram S. Maxim's (famous for inventing
the first successful automatic firearms) electric incandescent lamp.
Latimer also invented a wooden socket for the lamp that is very similar
to the ones we use today. In 1881 Lewis patented his own electric lamp,
and in 1882 invented a device for manufacturing carbons to be used in
electric lamps. In 1884, Lewis was hired on at Thomas Edison's "Edison
Electric Light Company as an engineer. Lewis Howard Latimer was the
only black member of "Edison's Pioneers" - Thomas Alva Edison's
team of inventors.
Edison had been trying in vein to find a filament that would burn long
enough to make an electric lamp feasable for general use. Lewis Latimer
developed the carbon filament that made the Edison Lamp commercially
viable.
Lewis Latimer wrote the first textbook on the Edison Company's lighting
systems. Lewis Latimer has many patents to his credit, as well has having
designed the lighting systems for the cities of New York, Paris, and
London. Latimer was one of the few African-American inventors to achieve
a fair measure of fame and considerable wealth in his lifetime.
- The Afro-American Inventor, C. R. Gibbs, pub. C. R. Gibbs, 1975 -
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The Love Sharpener
J. L. Love designed a very simple pencil sharpener that many graphic artists
still use today. This type of sharpener is used by placing the pencil
into an opening and rotating the pencil around a central point. This design
is simple, reliable, and clean, since the shavings are kept within the
sharpener.
- Bill Clearlake -
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The "Niggerhead" Machine
Jan Matzeliger was born in Surinam on September 5, 1852. At age 18
he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and became a factory worker.
At this factory, he learned how to shape shoes using a form called a
"last". Machines were used in every step of shoe-making except
for this final, critical step. Here, a machine stretched the leather
across the wooden or metal last, and the workman nailed the sole of
the shoe in place by hand. Jan watched the best workmen and over a period
of several years pieced together a machine that would accurately mimic
the delicate handwork of these expert craftsmen. Jan was a brilliant
inventor, but a poor businessman. He sold the rights to his invention
for a fraction of it's value and died penniless of tuberculosis in 1889.
Jan Matzeliger's invention revolutionized the shoe industry by making
it possible to produce shoes cheaply, but the only indication of this
machine's origins is that it is still called the "niggerhead"
machine by workers in the shoe industry.
- The Afro-American Inventor, C. R. Gibbs, pub. C. R. Gibbs, 1975 -
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The Real McCoy
Elijah McCoy's parents escaped slavery in Kentucky and settled in Colchester,
Ontario, Canada. Elijah was born in 1844. Elijah studied mechanical
engineering in Scotland and later worked as a fireman on the Michigan
Central Railroad. Periodically, the train had to be stopped so that
the machinery could be oiled. Elijah saw that this method was inefficient
and developed a method to oil machinery while it was running. His lubricating
devices were very successful and had many imitators, but Elijah's lubricators
had such a reputation for reliability that when someone went to purchase
of piece of machinery, they asked if it was equipped with "The
Real McCoy". The term is still used today to mean, "the best
and genuine article".
The next time you take your car in for an oil change, consider that,
thanks to Elijah McCoy, you don't have to stop every few miles to oil
the engine by hand.
- The Afro-American Inventor, C. R. Gibbs, pub. C. R. Gibbs, 1975 -
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