Commemorating Black History Month
Hugh Price is formerly President of the National Urban League. His great grandmother was the sister of Lewis Latimer, one of the foremost founders of the electricity industry.
Ran Yan is Executive Director of the Lewis Latimer House Museum.
To celebrate this month of February, PUF hearkens back to a pioneer of our industry: Lewis Latimer. He was African American, the son of slaves, in fact. But he was also a key inventor of electric lighting, a Civil War veteran, and an impressive example of resilience in the face of systemic bias and even prejudice.
His legacy teaches many lessons about how we each can cultivate success regardless of our background. For this reason, PUF spoke with Hugh Price, Vice Chair of the board of the Lewis Latimer House Museum and former President and CEO of the National Urban League.
Lewis Latimer was Price's great-grand uncle, his sister Margaret Latimer Hawley his great-grandmother, and their parents George and Rebecca Latimer his great, great grandparents. With this ancestry in mind, he shared with us his thoughts on why Lewis Latimer's life and legacy matter today.
Hugh Price
Hugh Price: Lewis Latimer's life is of enormous importance historically and his legacy resonates powerfully in this day and age. His story is, in truth, many stories. Among them a compelling American as well as African American story, a diversity and equity story. The story of a man who was a key colleague of two of the creative geniuses of history, namely Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison.