Lewis Latimer, Master Inventor (episode 120)

African American inventor and draftsman Lewis Latimer’s parents self-emancipated to give their children the opportunities afforded to those born into freedom. A Chelsea native, Latimer’s career took him from the Navy, to a patent law firm, to the prestigious circle of Thomas Edison’s pioneers.


Lewis Latimer

Boston Book Club

Our pick for the Boston Book Club this week is The Complete Writings of Phillis Wheatley.

Although the date and place of her birth are not documented, scholars believe that Phillis Wheatley was born in 1753 in West Africa, most likely in present-day Gambia or Senegal. Wheatley was enslaved by a visiting trader, who took her to Boston on July 11, 1761, on a ship called The Phillis. On arrival she was sold to wealthy Boston merchant and tailor John Wheatley, who bought the young girl as a servant for his wife Susanna. John and Susanna Wheatley named the young girl Phillis, after the ship that had brought her to America. She was given their last name of Wheatley, as was a common custom if any surname was used for enslaved people.

The Wheatleys’ 18-year-old daughter, Mary, first tutored Phillis in reading and writing. Their son Nathaniel also helped her. John Wheatley was known as a progressive throughout New England. His family gave Phillis an unprecedented education for an enslaved person, and for a female of any race. By the age of 12, Phillis was reading Greek and Latin classics and difficult passages from the Bible. At the age of 14, she wrote her first poem, “To the University of Cambridge, in New England.” Recognizing her literary ability, the Wheatley family supported Phillis’s education and left the household labor to their other domestic slaves. The Wheatleys often showed off her abilities to friends and family. Strongly influenced by her studies of the works of Alexander Pope, John Milton, Homer, Horace and Virgil, Phillis Wheatley began to write poetry.

Many colonists found it difficult to believe that an African slave was writing excellent poetry. Wheatley had to defend her authorship of her poetry in court in 1772. She was examined by a group of Boston luminaries, including John Hancock, Thomas Hutchinson, the governor of Massachusetts, and his lieutenant governor Andrew Oliver. They concluded she had written the poems ascribed to her and signed an attestation, which was included in the preface of her book of collected works: Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, published in London in 1773. Publishers in Boston had declined to publish it, but her work was of great interest in London. There, Selina, Countess of Huntingdon and the Earl of Dartmouth acted as patrons to help Wheatley gain publication. Her poetry received comment in The London Magazine In 1773, which published as a “specimen” of her work, her poem ‘Hymn to the Morning’, and said: “these poems display no astonishing works of genius, but when we consider them as the productions of a young, untutored African, who wrote them after six months careful study of the English language, we cannot but suppress our admiration for talents so vigorous and lively.”

Upcoming Event

On Saturday, March 16, at Suffolk University Law School, we’ll be attending one of our favorite annual history events.  History Camp Boston is a unique, day-long event that opens up the idea of a history conference to everyone.  You don’t have to be a historian or a professor to attend. Anyone is welcome, and there are over 50 great short-form sessions by well known historians to choose from, including plenty of people we’ve quoted from and even interviewed on the show.  This year, topics will include:

  • Heroic Souls: Puritan Women as the First American Individuals
  • When America Despised the Irish: The 19th Century’s Refugee Crisis
  • James and Dolley: Opposites Attract
  • The Untold Story of Massasoit and the Colonists
  • The Not-So-Good Life of the Colonial Goodwife

History Camp has something for everyone, whether you’re an academic, public historian, or just a nerd like us. Besides having a chance to learn new facets of history we’ve never heard before, it’s also always a great opportunity to meet like-minded people, and we’ve made some lasting friendships in our five years at History Camp.  If you attend, make sure to introduce yourself as a listener. We’ll be the ones with the HUB History stickers on our name tags, and we always like having a chance to meet listeners.