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

Press & Photography: collage image
Press & Photography

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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.

An alternative history

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Sources

  1. Primary record

    U.S. patent record (USPTO)

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