Lavalette, William A.
c.1841-1914 · Contribution: 1878
Inventor
Improvements to the printing press: a refined construction and arrangement for smoother, more even operation, with more easily removable parts for cleaning and an improved mechanism for loading and unloading paper

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Quick facts
- Born
- c. 1841, Washington, D.C.
- Active since
- 1878
- Category
- Press & Photography
- Best known for
- Early African American printing-press patents
Impact on the world
Lavalette's patents advanced the printing press, the very machine on which the Black press depended, and stand as documented evidence of a Black inventor's contribution to print history.
Sources
- U.S. patent record (USPTO)
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