Historical Marker
Booker T. Washington School
Historical marker location:
450 West Madison Street, Franklin, Indiana
( Marker is on West Madison Street just east of Uitz Street, on the left when traveling east.)
The first public demonstration of the electric light bulb was given by Thomas Edison in Menlo Park, New Jersey, but the first practical incandescent light bulb was invented by Lewis Howard Latimer, who was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, but lived in Indiana for a time. Latimer was also the first African American to be employed as an engineer by the U.S. Patent Office.