African American Tribute: Lewis Latimer

In 1874, he copatented (with Charles W. Brown) an improved toilet system for railroad cars called the Water Closet for Railroad Cars (U.S. Patent 147,363), the first of many patents. In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell employed Latimer to draft the necessary drawings required to receive a patent for Bell's telephone. He did this in his capacity as draftsman at the firm of Bell's patent law firm.