With millions of
Americans enduring one of the harshest winters in recent memory, the work of
African American inventor Charles S.L. Baker may spark renewed interest in
friction heat. Baker, who was born enslaved, is credited with building the
first radiator system using friction heat.
Baker was born
in 1859 in Savannah, Missouri. He was three months old when his mother suddenly
died, leaving him and his siblings to be raised by his owner’s wife and his
father, Abraham Baker. When the Civil War ended and the nation’s enslaved were
freed, Baker attended Franklin College. The younger Baker worked as an
assistant to his father who was an express agent. The apprenticeship created
opportunities for Baker to learn and nurture his interest in the mechanical
sciences.
To preserve his work,
Baker secured a patent for his system, and he and a group of men started a
company known as The Friction heat & Boiler Company. Baker sat on the Board of Directors.
For over 20 years,
Baker worked to develop his theory about friction heat, promoting it as a more
cost effective method than the radiator used at that time which was built by
Franz San Galli, who was Prussian. To preserve his work, Baker secured a patent
for his system, and he and a group of men started a company known as The
Friction heat & Boiler Company. Baker sat on the Board of Directors of
what was a successful enterprise.
Baker was a highly
regarded resident of St. Joseph, Missouri, where he founded his company. He
died of pneumonia in May 1926 at the age of 66.
