Mother Jones

Historical marker location:

(back yard of) 451 North 8th Street, Terre Haute, Indiana

( Marker can be reached from North 8th Street south of Spruce Street.)

Marker installed: 1990

1830 - 1930.

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.