The Lewis Latimer House Museum Celebrating a Renaissance man by Naeisha Rose
raised his daughters there with his wife [Mary Wilson] ... and he added an addition to the house, which was his personal lab.” Latimer lived in the white section of The Lewis Latimer House Museum in Flushing, and as someone who challenged Flushing is a true reflection of the person it discrimination, he became one of the foundhonors. Its mission to be a space for science, tin- ing members of the Unitarian Universalist kering, art and inclusion is emblematic of Congregation of Queens, a church that was Lewis Harold Latimer, born Sept. 4, 1848 in racially integrated, according to the city Parks Department and Rutgers Chelsea, Mass., to escaped slaves, University’s School of Arts and George and Rebecca Latimer. He ICONIC Sciences. He also taught English was a self-taught mechanical and mechanical drawing to Irish drafter and engineer who worked INVENTOR immigrants, who weren’t considfor the likes of Alexander Graered white at the time, Yan added. ham Bell, Thomas Edison and His home, a two-and-a-half Hiram Maxim, people whose story Victorian, was sold after his innovations he improved upon death and faced demolition in while becoming an inventor in his own right. He also joined the Union 1988, when residents formed a “Save the Latimer House Committee,” Yan said. It Navy at 15, serving in the Civil War. His life and legacy were marked with cel- was headed by his grandchildren, Winifred ebrations for his 175th birthday this year at Latimer Norman and Gerald Norman. The the eponymously named house, Ran Yan, house was saved, and was moved a mile and a half, in 1989. the LLHM executive director, said. His grandchildren strived to preserve the “Latimer bought the house in 1900 and house so that his work in making drawings lived there from 1902 until his death in 1928,” Yan told the Chronicle. “He basically of Bell’s telephone patents, along with his Associate Editor
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The Lewis Latimer House Museum will reopen in spring 2024, showcasing the eponymous inventor’s poems. PHOTOS COURTESY LLHM
contributions developing longer-lasting carbon filaments and light bulbs, for Maxim and Edison, respectively, while also being the forefather of the air conditioner, would not be lost to history, Yan said. “He was at the forefront and development of electric lighting in his early age,” she said. Latimer was also dubbed a “Renaissance man” because he was a passionate artist and poet, as well, the LLHM executive director added. “We have original artifacts, including paintings and drawings done by Lewis Latimer,” she said. “We also have an original poetry book that his children published for him.” The museum, located at 34-41 137 St., is typically open on Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., but is closed at the moment as a new exhibit is being installed. It will reopen in spring 2024, but in the meantime, immersive, educational activities for children and families are being offered
via the Mobile Lewis Latimer Lab at schools and at various branches of the Queens Public Library. “The kids do a circuitry activity ... and they do a scavenger hunt where they learn about ... his history,” Yan said. “In the new exhibition next year, we have a poetry machine where people can read Lewis Latimer’s poems and also hear them read out loud in different languages,” she continued. “We focus on ... science, technology, engineering, art and math education because Lewis Latimer was such a champion between the connection of science and art.” To learn more about those programs and others, call (718) 961-8585 or send an email to info@lewislatimerhouse.org. “He was an incredible trailblazer and he was also very talented, not only inventing but in other aspects in the arts,” Yan said. “I think he embodies a lot of the newer movements in STEAM education before it became a thing ... and the Black is beautiful Q movement.”
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