On February 11, 1918, at a fancy restaurant in New York City, 37 men gathered for a very

important luncheon. Gentlemen, gentlemen, I hope you don't mind me interupting your

Vichy swas, but I'd like to officially welcome you to the very first meeting of the Edison pioneers.

The Edison pioneers was a highly exclusive group. Each member hand-picked by the superstar

inventor of the telegraph, the movie camera, and the light bulb, Thomas Elva Edison.

Sadly, even though it is Mr Edison's 71st birthday, I am afraid he is unable to join us this afternoon.

He got called away on government business, but I'd like to make sure the rest of us are present,

so we'll begin with a roll call. Edward Goodrich, Addison?

Here. William, Symes, Andrews? Here. John, I begs?

Here. You probably don't recognize the names, but at the time, these guys were a big deal

in the burgeoning field of electricity. George V. Delaney?

All 37 of them had worked for Thomas Edison in his early years when he was first

tooling around with electric power. William E. Gilmore? Here. Edwin T. Greenfield? Here.

So all 37 of them were brilliant innovators and engineers. Samuel Insul?

Here. But one of them stood out from the rest.

Lewis Howard Latimer? Here.

Of the more than three dozen members of the Edison pioneers,

Lewis Howard Latimer was the only African-American. At a time when Black Americans were fighting

against serious racial injustice, discrimination, segregation, violence, Lewis Howard Latimer

not only managed to be sitting at that table in that fancy restaurant in 1918, he managed to be

the most important person in the room. Because as we're about to hear, thanks to his hard work,

self-reliance, determination, and imagination, Lewis Howard Latimer changed the course of history

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