Lewis Howard Latimer #1307

Caption from poster__       " In the late 19th century, despite the seemingly  insurmountable obstacles facing the son of a   former slave, Lewis Latimer (1848-1928) contributed many technological advances in the field of electricity."   Lewis Latimer was known as a "Renaissance" man, a man of many talents. An accomplished poet, painter, playwrite, musician as well as a pioneering engineer, he overcame many obstacles without having any doubts about his talents. Recognizing that Thomas Edison's bamboo filament was impractical (Edison's original bulb lasted only 30 hours before burning out), Latimer invented the carbon filament, thus making the light bulb practical.  He was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts on September 4, 1848 as the youngest of the four children of Rebecca (1826-1848) and George Latimer (July 4, 1818 [1] -c.1880). George Latimer had been the slave of James B. Gray of Virginia. George Latimer ran away to freedom in Boston, Massachusetts in October, 1842, along with h