"Learning From Lives: Lewis H. Latimer"

A Sermon by the Rev. Bruce Clear

Sunday, February 24, 2002

All Souls Unitarian Church

Indianapolis, Indiana

It is somewhat of a coincidence that I give this sermon during Black History month. I didn't plan it that way, but sometimes things just work out the way they are supposed to work out, and you can't do anything about it! As many of you recall, I am giving a series of sermons I call "Learning from Lives," which examine people who were associated with Unitarianism or Universalism, but that wasn't why they are sermon material.

Last week I spoke of Florence Nightingale, and it was coincidence that had me name Lewis Latimer for today. His name is hardly a household name, though every household in America is affected by his work. He was an African American, the son of a slave, and close worker with Thomas Edison, and the man who discovered the carbon filament that made the light bulb marketable and affordable for every household.

It is unfortunate that we don't know this name. I'm a bit ashamed to report that I went through a Unitarian seminary where we went through Unitarian history with a fine-toothed comb, and I still hadn't heard of him. I finally learned about Lewis Latimer through our Religious Education Director, who has been teaching his story to our youth for years. And, as black history is becoming more and more taught in this country, children are learning the stories of African Americans that have not been told in the past.

His life is fascinating - so fascinating, in fact, that I couldn't help to feel close to him as I learned more and more about him. He was not only the kind of person you would like to know, he was the kind of person that we could do well to emulate. Because of that, I thought I'd approach this sermon a little differently. I found it easier to write imagining myself as a participant in his own story, as part of his life.

I have invented, then, a scenario. Suppose Lewis Latimer had written a letter about his own life and life lessons to his posterity, his grandchildren and great grandchildren. He has much to tell, much to teach, much to pass on to succeeding generations, and if he were to have written such a letter it might have been like this:

To my great grandchildren:

Life has been wonderful to me, and I write with the hope that yours will be even better. It could easily have turned out to be quite different for me. Life was not so wonderful for so many people I knew, but somehow I had a lot of good advice along the way, a lot of people who encouraged and believed in me, and I was blessed with ambition, and a lot of luck.

I want you to know some of the world I have known, for your world will be quite a bit different than mine. Perhaps in hearing about my world, you will learn some pieces of your legacy and have some advantage to life as you will live it.

This world is certainly a very different world than the world of my own parents. Their world was one that was full of pain and struggle. You see, my parents, George and Rebecca Latimer, were slaves in Virginia in the 1840s, and they knew this was not the life they wished for their own children. So risking everything, they escaped and ran away from their owners. Running toward freedom, they didn't rest until they came to Boston, where they finally put down roots and began their family.

But even freedom wasn't safe or easy for a runaway slave. Not even in Boston. Soon after they arrived, my dad was recognized as a fugitive slave and arrested and put in jail. My mother went into hiding in the home of an abolitionist leader. My father's arrest triggered a great controversy all over Boston, and the abolitionist leaders spoke eloquently on behalf of my father's right to be free. It was in support of my father that the great orator and fugitive slave Frederick Douglass first spoke out publically. The leading abolitionist, William Lloyd Garrison, also came to my father's defense. When the trial came, the judge ruled that my father was still the property of the slave owner. But a local African American minister was able to raise $400 to pay for my father to be able to stay with his family in Boston. After that, my father continued working for the cause of freedom for fugitive slaves. By then his name was known throughout Boston.

It was during this time, in 1848, that I was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts. I was the youngest of three boys and a girl. My father of course had few marketable skills as a slave, but he was a determined man. He worked two self-employed jobs - as a barber and as a paper-hanger. He was a hard worker, and as a child I worked with him as an apprentice paper-hanger. We never had much money at all, and he was only able to send us to a few years at grammar school, which turned out to be our only formal education. But it was enough to teach me to love learning, and I began to read everything I could find, and found interests in all different areas of life - in music, where I learned to play the flute, in sciences, which were to become the focus of my life work, and in literature, which I loved so much that throughout life I wrote poetry and plays.

But the story of struggle for my family wasn't over. The legacy of slavery continued to threaten us. In 1850, Congress passed the fugitive slave law which permitted slave owners to bring back slaves who escaped to free states. And in 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Dred Scott case that a slave who escapes to a free state cannot be considered a free man. Fugitive slaves had no legal rights. This was a powerful blow to my family, and especially to my father. Though money had been given to buy his freedom, there were no official papers showing it. Besides, he had become a symbol for the whole controversy. He feared what might happen if he were captured. Not long after that Supreme Court ruling, as efforts were organized to gather up fugitive slaves and return them to their owners, my father disappeared and was never saw the family again. I never knew what happened but I believe he felt that the whole family would be safer if he wasn't there. I was only 10 at the time, and my brothers and I were sent to an institution called the "Farm School." After a while, I ran away and returned to my mother's home, and eventually got a job as an office boy.

Maybe that was when I developed some spunk in my personality, I don't know. But it is clear to those who knew me that if I wanted something to happen, I would find a way to make it happen. My involvement in the Civil War, for example. I wasn't even a teenager when the war began, and at first blacks weren't allowed to fight. Then in 1864, the ban on black enlistees was lifted, and both my brothers joined up. I was only sixteen at the time, too young to enlist, but that didn't stop me from telling them I was older - I hope history will forgive the falsehood - and I joined the Navy, and served on the gunship U.S.S. Massasoit.

When I returned home to Boston after the war, I heard of a job as an office boy in a patent law firm called Crosby and Gould. I took the job, and I found the whole experience fascinating. I especially watched the draftsmen at work as they drew scale models of various inventions to be patented. I wrote down the titles of their books, and went out to find used copies to buy and read at home. I purchased some drafting tools, and practiced drawing. After a lot of practice, I worked up the courage to ask the head draftsman if I could do some drawings. He allowed me to, and apparently felt I did a good job. In fact, he promoted me from office boy to draftsman, and by the end of my time at the firm I was the head draftsman. I began as an office boy making three dollars a week, and wound up as a head draftsman making $20 a week. Even that, though, was five dollars less than those white draftsmen who worked under me. My job was to oversee the drawings submitted to the U.S. Patent Office.

It was while working there that I met and married the woman who helped make life so wonderful for me. Mary Wilson and I were married for over fifty years, and raised two wonderful daughters. From the time we met, and for the rest of my life, I adored this beautiful woman. Among the many poems I wrote throughout my life, one of the most important was a tribute I wrote to my loving wife Mary. I call it Ebon Venus:

Let others boast of maidens fair,

Of eyes of blue and golden hair;

My heart like needles ever true

Turns to the maid of ebon hue.

I love her form of matchless grace,

The dark brown beauty of her face,

Her lips that speak of love's delight,

Her eyes that gleam as stars at night.

O'er marble Venus let them rage,

Who sets the fashion of the age;

Each to his taste, but as for me,

My Venus shall be ebony.

Back at the Patent Law Office, I treasured my work as a draftsman, but I also admired the creativity I witnessed among inventors. In my spare time, I experimented with inventions, and managed to receive several patents over the years, one for a locking coatrack, another for an improved bathroom (then called "water closets") on trains.

I recall what was perhaps my most important assignment at the Patent Law Office. Alexander Graham Bell came to me to submit drawings for his application to patent his new invention, the telephone. We worked together long hours, late into the night, for several weeks. Finally, on February 14, 1876, we filed our application with the U.S. Patent Office. And it was just in time, it turned out. A few hours later, another inventor by the name of Elisha Gray submitted his own application for his telephone. It was a close call, extremely close, but Bell received the patent.

Of all the inventions I encountered, the most interesting to me were electrical ones. That is why I was so excited to be offered a job as draftsman for Hiram Maxim, a famous inventor in Bridgeport, Connecticut who was working on several projects, including electrical lights. In fact, his company was called the U.S. Electrical Light Company. Thomas Edison had received the original patent for the electric light bulb, but he was unable to manufacture a practical product that would last for more than a few hours or a day. Edison and my boss, Maxim, were in a race to find the proper components for a useful electrical light.

So the first thing I did was to study everything I could find about electricity and lighting. Then I went about searching for the most useful filaments that would make lights last longer and cost less. After thousands of experiments, I finally came upon the right combination of carbon filaments. It was a discovery worth celebrating. Two patents for different uses of this filament were submitted - one was granted in the name of my employer, the U.S. Electrical Light Company, and the other different one in my own name.

The ground was prepared for the mass production of electrical lights, and installation of lighting systems in buildings all over the world. It was clear to my company's founder, Hiram Maxim, that I had the deepest knowledge of how these lights work. He decided to send me to oversee installation of lighting systems in New York, Philadelphia, and Montreal. To prepare for the trip to Montreal, I spent my nights studying French so I could communicate with the local workers. My last trip to oversee lighting installation was to London, where my wife Mary accompanied me.

When I returned from London, I made the difficult decision to resign from Hiram Maxim's company. As much success as I found there, I increasingly felt that Mr. Maxim did not appreciate my role in the whole project, and I was ready to try something new. Not long after resigning, I was contacted by Mr. Maxim's arch rival in the electrical business, Thomas Edison. Edison had paid close attention to the workings of his competitor and was well aware of my contributions there.

The rush to file new patents was quickly becoming a critical piece of the electrical lighting industry. Mr. Edison was aware not only of my knowledge about electrical lighting, but also about the process of preparing adequate patents. He had already lost a few races for invention rights simply because his patents were improperly prepared. I also thought at the time that his interest in me was increased because I had previously worked for his main rival, Hiram Maxim. Eventually Edison appointed me the chief draftsman of his patent department.

In 1890, Edison encouraged me to write a book that would explain electricity and electrical lighting to the public at large in non-technical terms. The book I wrote was entitled, "Incandescent Electric Lighting, A Practical Description of the Edison System."

It became evident to those in the industry that the battles over patents were draining everyone's energy, and were leading to costly court battles. Eventually, Edison and another competitor, Westinghouse, formed a mutual agency called the Board of Patent Control which was to oversee and ensure the smooth competition for patents. Mr. Edison appointed me the chief draftsman of this Board, and I kept that position for 11 years.

I remained close to Edison and his team for many years. In 1918, several people organized a group who worked with Edison from his early years. They invited me to be a charter member of what came to be called the "Edison Pioneers." It was a great honor. The Edison Pioneers met annually, and kept alive into the new century the spirit of creativity that characterized the great age of invention.

I hope telling you about all this that happened to me will have some meaning for you. Life has been wonderful to me - but so much of what has been wonderful is something I sought and made happen.

The most wonderful part, of course, has been the family that has been my strength. Beyond that, I have met people along the way who believed in me and gave me a chance. The successes I have found came from hard work, coupled with important collaborations.

I began life only a thin line from slavery. The inequalities and injustices continue to abound. Yet so much of what has been wonderful in my life has been finding those people who are willing to change these conditions, and give everyone an equal chance.

Many years ago, I reflected on what my life has taught me, and I wrote down a brief paragraph of advice to give others. Here is what I said then, and I would hope you can find meaningful:

"You can help shape your future by taking advantage of present opportunities no matter how small nor how few they be. Good habits and good manners are powerful means of advancement that rarely fail to bring reward. Think of your future and plan for it the best you can. But now and then, pause and ask yourself, 'What can I do today?'"

I have full confidence in the future, which means I have full confidence in you. I hope these reflections will have some significance for you in your life journey, and I hope, most of all, that you will reflect on your lives and see in them all that is wonderful.

I write this with love,

your great grandfather,

Lewis

************

Some have called Lewis Latimer a "Renaissance Man." There is reason for using this label because of the wide range of his skills and interests. In addition to his work as a scientist, inventor, and patent expert, he was fluent in French and German, was talented as a flute player, a prolific writer of poetry, and active in causes for social welfare.

One of the things we learn form his life is the great sense of balance he brought into it - a balance of family, work, study, and civic-mindedness.

I could not find any mention of how he became associated with the Unitarian Church. It is clear that many of his encounters along the way included Unitarians. William Lloyd Garrison, the abolitionist, for example, and Alexander Graham Bell. However it happened, Latimer was to become a founding member of the Unitarian Church of Flushing, New York, where he lived for many years. His granddaughter, Dr. Winifred Latimer Norman, a retired social worker in New York, continued in her 80s to be active in her Unitarian Church, and served on the Board of the Unitarian Universalist Association headquarters in Boston.

It is no surprise, given his background, that Lewis Latimer was always concerned with issues of social justice. He remained in contact with Frederick Douglass over the years, and became a spokesman on many fronts for racial justice. One of his ideas was to hold a national convention of black Americans, in an attempt to find a more effective voice for them. I quote from an essay he wrote on that concept, and you will see, I think, not only the soul of a man committed to justice, but the eloquence of a Renaissance man whose world was much broader than a laboratory:

"If our cause be made common cause, and all our claims and demands be founded on justice and humanity, recognizing that we must wrong no man in winning OUR rights, I have faith to believe that the Nation will respond to our plea for equality before the law, security under law, and opportunity, by and through maintenance of the law, to enjoy with our fellow citizens of all races and complexions the blessings guaranteed under the Constitution, of 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.'"

Latimer lobbied in 1906 for a black representative on the Brooklyn School Board. He volunteered his time to the Henry Street Settlement House for new immigrants, teaching English and mechanical drawing.

He was a valued colleague, and all reports document him as being cordial, humble, warm, and loyal. At his death in 1928, at the age of 80, an obituary was released to the press from his colleagues known as the Edison Pioneers.

"Mr. Latimer successfully produced a method of making carbon filaments for electric incandescent lamps, which he patented.... He was of the colored race, the only one in our organization, and was one of those to respond to the initial call that led to the formation of the Edison Pioneers. Broad-mindedness, versatility in the accomplishment of things intellectual and cultural, a linguist, a devoted husband and father - all were characteristic of him, and his genial presence will be missed from our gatherings."

Lewis Latimer led a life of great integrity. The fact that he made some significant contributions to our everyday life is, I think - and I expect he would think - in addition to that primary achievement of integrity as a person. He believed in himself, and believed he could overcome any barriers and make happen what he wanted to happen.

In spite of the strikes against him in life, he loved life and the world he lived in - and perhaps that was because he had the will to shape the world to himself. I will close by reading one piece of his poetry, which to me is inspiring, about looking at the world with conviction and confidence. You can hear in these lines his own passion about life. He calls this poem, "Keep in Touch With the World."

Keep in touch with the world;

The days that are ours,

Are fleeting and soon

The night will be here.

If we've loved we have lived,

Midst its weeds and its flowers,

Midst its smiles and its laughter

As well as its tear.

Keep in touch with the world;

With its joys and its sorrows,

Keep in touch with the world;

With its pleasure and pain;

With its crime and its care,

For who knows but tomorrow

We may leave it to never

Return here again.

Those only who suffer,

Can feel for each other,

Experience is teaching

As naught else can teach.

Each woman's our sister,

Each man is our brother.

To tell of our love,

Is the purpose of speech.

Keep in touch with the world;

From the babe with its mother

To the tottering man

Deep wrinkled and gray.

To love while we live

And give aid to each other

Is the sunshine of life

That turns night into day.