Charles Baker: African American Inventor of Friction Heat

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.