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For decades, school teachers, media outlets, and Black supremacists have pushed wildly false claims that Lewis Latimer either “invented the light bulb,” “invented the carbon filament for Thomas Edison,” or at the very least invented an improved version of the carbon filament that was then used by Edison for his light bulbs.
Latimer was an accomplished patent draftsman/artist whose father had been the subject of a famous runaway slave court case six years before he was born. He worked for such giants as Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, and Hiram Maxim. Between 1874 and 1910, Latimer was granted three of his own patents and three joint patents with others. However, none of them are for an improved carbon filament, and none ever resulted in commercially successful products.
Black nationalists and school teachers could simply teach that major inventors used Lewis Latimer, a Black patent draftsman, and that Latimer was accepted as one of the 37 charter members of the Pioneers of Edison. Then they would have a factual story to inspire young Black children to apply themselves.
All the variations of claims that Latimer invented or improved the light bulb or its carbon filament can be easily debunked. The first working carbon filament for an incandescent light bulb was invented before Latimer was even born. The breakthrough made by Edison to dramatically improve the lifespan of the carbon filament occurred years before Edison hired Latimer as a patent draftsman/artist.
1841 – Frederick de Moleyns filed the first patent for an incandescent light bulb in Britain. It uses a platinum filament. At the time, platinum was the only material he could find that could withstand the heat. Shortly after, Warren de la Rue demonstrated that coiling the filament improved performance. However, the use of platinum made it much too expensive for commercialization.
1845 – John Wellington Starr filed the first patent for an incandescent light bulb using a carbon filament in Britain. His patent calls for placing the carbon filament in a vacuum-sealed globe. The use of a vacuum made it possible to use other materials besides platinum, since they couldn’t catch fire without oxygen. The carbon filament was chosen because it could be made so cheaply. His original design also called for making the light bulb reusable by inserting a new filament and re-evacuating the globe.
Many consider Starr the true inventor of the light bulb. However, Starr was already dying of tuberculosis when the patent was filed, and he died shortly after. Some say he was already dead when his associate filed the patent on his behalf. Because of his death, work stopped, and his invention was never commercialized. His patent faded into obscurity. The main problem with Starr’s carbon filament was that it was made from cotton thread and lasted only about 12 hours.
1878 – Sir Joseph Swan demonstrates a cheap, practical, easy-to-manufacture incandescent light bulb with carbon filaments to an audience in England. He was granted British and US patents in 1880. In 1881, his light bulbs were used to illuminate the Savoy Theatre. Swan was knighted in 1904 by King Edward VII for his work.
1878 – Thomas Edison founded the Edison Electric Light Company and began a massive effort to manufacture a long-lasting filament.
1879 – Thomas Edison filed a patent for an incandescent light bulb using a filament that vastly exceeded the lifespan of any other. His breakthrough was using Japanese bamboo, which achieved perfect carbonization while retaining a structure that held the filament together. Compared to the original carbon filaments made by John Wellington Starr, Edison’s lasted about 100 times longer.
The patent was granted in January 1880. The work of Thomas Edison and Sir Joseph Swan directly overlapped.
1880 – While far more famous for inventing the world’s first fully automatic machine gun, Hiram Maxim was also actively competing with Edison and Swan to develop the best light bulb. In 1880, he was granted a patent for what he called an improved baking process for making the carbon filaments. This was not an attempt to improve an existing filament. It was to reduce costs and labor by reducing the number that cracked during baking and cooling. Thomas Latimer was an employee of Hiram Maxim at the time.
1881 – In March of 1881, Thomas Edison was granted a patent for flattening the ends of the carbon filament to create a more reliable electrical connection. This becomes the standard practice.
1881 – In September of 1881, Joseph V. Nichols and Lewis Latimer were jointly granted a patent that attempted to build upon Edison’s flattened ends by applying additional bent tabs. Technical diagrams of Edison’s mass-produced light bulbs from 1890, drawn by Latimer himself, do not show these bent tabs. There is no evidence that this patent ever resulted in a component of any commercial light bulbs.
1882 – Thomas Latimer is granted a patent that is a tweak on the baking process patent granted to his boss, Hiram Maxim, two years earlier. There is no evidence that this patent was ever used commercially. Edison was using his own baking processes.
This obscure patent is the sole basis for such false claims that Latimer “invented the light bulb,” “invented the carbon filament for Thomas Edison,” or “improved Thomas Edison’s carbon filament.”
1882 – Edison launches the Edison Electric Light Company of London.
1883 – Edison Electric Light Company of London and Joseph Swan’s United Electric Light Company merge into the Edison & Swan United Electric Light Company, commonly known as “Ediswan.”
1884 – Thomas Edison hired Thomas Latimer as a patent draftsman and expert on patent law. He would work for Thomas Edison until 1911.
1886 – Edison expands manufacturing capacity in the USA and Britain and begins large-scale commercial production of his light bulbs.
1890 – Thomas Edison files a patent for an improved baking process for his carbon filaments. This becomes the latest evolution in the baking process Edison uses to make his carbon filaments.
1910 – Lewis Latimer is granted his third patent related to the light bulb. It is for his own version of a clamp to attach a lamp shade to a light socket. There are dozens of these patents issued to numerous different people. The patent did not result in a commercial product that was ever manufactured and sold.
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