Lewis Latimer House

What Lewis Latimer House does

Lewis Latimer House is a community-supported nonprofit museum located in the historic home of African American inventor Lewis Howard Latimer (1848-1929) in Flushing, Queens, New York. The organization operates as a cultural and educational institution dedicated to preserving Latimer's legacy while delivering hands-on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) programming that connects Black history to scientific innovation. The museum reopened in 2024 with a newly redesigned permanent exhibition featuring five galleries with interactive displays, artifacts, patent drawings, and photographs, supplemented by a digitized archive of historical documents.

The organization's product portfolio includes the permanent exhibition, free monthly S.T.E.A.M Saturday family workshops, the 34th Ave Open Streets community programs, the Illuminating Histories virtual STEAM series, Black Historic Sites in Conversation virtual talks, a memoir and autobiographical writing workshop, school field trips, space rentals for private events, and downloadable Tinker Lab activities. The museum serves families with children, students and educators, adult learners, and event renters within Queens and the greater NYC area, with virtual programming extending reach beyond the immediate geography. Distribution channels include in-person visits to the historic house (Fridays-Sundays, 11 AM-5 PM), partner-location programming at Queens Public Library branches, Queens Botanical Garden, and Museum of the Moving Image, and community pop-up events.

The business model is a nonprofit hybrid revenue structure combining individual donations, foundation and government grants (Mellon Foundation, Humanities NY, NY State Council on the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Queens Arts Fund, City Parks Foundation, Science Sandbox), and space rental fees. Most programs are free to the public, with limited revenue-generating use cases such as private event rentals. The organization is governed independently, led by Executive Director Ran Yan, with a staff of 13 and no parent company or institutional investor ownership structure identified.

Name

Lewis Latimer House

Legal name

Lewis Latimer House

Website

https://lewislatimerhouse.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Lewis Latimer House is a community-supported nonprofit museum in Flushing, Queens, preserving the legacy of African American inventor Lewis Howard Latimer through STEAM education, free family programming, school field trips, virtual workshops, and curated exhibitions in his historic home.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Historic House Museum and Cultural Education

NAICS

Historical Sites (71212), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712)

akta.pro primary industry

Historic Sites, Heritage Landmarks & Archaeological Sites (THAJACAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Museum & Landmark Guided Tours (Skip-the-line/Docent-led) (THAJAAAC)

Keywords

• Historic house museum
• STEAM education programs
• Black history education
• Community cultural center
• Memoir writing workshops

Headquarters

HQ city

Flushing

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations and Contributions: The museum is a community-supported nonprofit that relies on donations from visitors and supporters to sustain operations and programming.
2. Space Rentals: The historic landmark home and garden spaces are available for event rentals including weddings, parties, and corporate events.
3. Grants and Foundation Support: The museum receives grant funding from organizations including Mellon Foundation, Humanities NY, NY State Council on the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Queens Arts Fund, and City Parks Foundation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Lewis Latimer House operates a historic house museum in the former home of African American inventor Lewis Howard Latimer in Flushing, Queens, NY. The museum offers free admission and a 2024 redesigned permanent exhibition (five galleries), hands-on STEAM education programs for families and children, school field trips, virtual workshop series, memoir writing workshops, and historic site rentals for private events. Revenue is generated through donations, grants, and space rentals rather than ticket sales.

Product overview

Lewis Latimer House is a community-supported nonprofit museum and cultural center dedicated to celebrating the legacy of African American inventor Lewis Howard Latimer. The organization offers a portfolio of educational programs including the recently redesigned Lewis Latimer Permanent Exhibition (2024), S.T.E.A.M Saturday hands-on activities, 34th Ave Open Streets community programs, the Illuminating Histories virtual workshop series, and Black Historic Sites in Conversation virtual talks. Additional offerings include a Memoir and Autobiographical Writing Workshop focused on race and immigration themes, Tinker Lab activity resources, field trips for schools, space rentals, and a digitized archive. The museum serves diverse communities through free and low-cost programming for adults, children, families, and students.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Lewis Latimer Permanent Exhibition A redesigned permanent exhibition (2024) that transports visitors through time, showcasing how Lewis Latimer's life, legacy, and family continue to impact modern society. Each room of the Latimer historic home features interactive displays and historical artifacts. It is free and open to the public on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
• S.T.E.A.M Saturday Programs Free monthly hands-on science, technology, engineering, art, and math activities for families and children. Each event features a themed activity, family-friendly scavenger hunt, and self-guided tours of the museum.
• 34th Ave Open Streets Programs Family-friendly hands-on STEAM activities held at outdoor community events in Jackson Heights. Activities include propeller cars, circuit flowers, string art, soil sculptures, and LEGO printmaking.
• Memoir and Autobiographical Writing Workshop A six-session scholarship-funded writing workshop focusing on themes of race and immigration, taught by Abeer Hoque. Participants develop their narratives through workshop sessions and present final work at a public reading.
• Illuminating Histories Virtual STEAM Series A family-friendly virtual workshop series by artist Tasha Dougé that illuminates the hidden legacies of Black historical figures through innovative, immersive artistic approaches and applications of STEAM concepts.
• Black Historic Sites in Conversation A virtual talk series in collaboration with different Black heritage sites and cultural centers in the greater NYC area, focusing on the ongoing work of preserving, interpreting, and celebrating Black history.
• Tinker Lab Hands-on STEAM activity downloads and resources for families to explore science, technology, engineering, art, and math concepts at home.
• Field Trips and Group Tours Educational visits for school groups featuring guided tours of the museum and hands-on STEAM activities tailored for students.
• Space Rentals Rental of the historic landmark home and garden for private events, including birthday parties and community gatherings.
• Digitized Archive Digital access to the museum's collection of historical documents, photographs, and artifacts related to Lewis Latimer and African American inventors.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Queens Public LibrarycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing partnership for STEAM workshops, scavenger hunts, and educational programs at multiple QPL branch locations throughout Queens including Mitchell-Linden, Flushing, Arverne, Corona, Rochdale, and South Ozone Park. Library serves as key distribution channel for museum programming.
• Queens Botanical GardencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint programming including Lunar New Year celebrations and soil sculpture workshops at the garden location. Combines environmental education with museum programming.
• Museum of the Moving ImagecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on 'Magic Hours: Engineering Lighting for Cinema' event exploring lighting in filmmaking and celebrating Latimer's contributions to electrical lighting. Museum hosted educational workshop and film programming.
• Queens Historical SocietycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-host of Annual Holly Tour, a Queens tradition exploring five historic sites including the Lewis Latimer House, Voelker Orth Museum, John Bowne House, Kingsland Homestead, and Quaker Meeting House.
• Museum at Eldridge StreetminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for S.T.E.A.M Saturday: Lighting Sacred Spaces workshop exploring history of stained glass and lightbulbs in sacred spaces, including Eldridge Street Synagogue.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Voelker Orth Museum: Queens, NY historic house museum focusing on local history, immigrant heritage, and gardening. Directly comparable as a borough-level historic house museum and fellow Holly Tour partner site.
• Weeksville Heritage Center: Brooklyn-based heritage center preserving the legacy of a historic 19th-century free Black community. Directly comparable as a NYC-based Black heritage site delivering education, exhibitions, and community programming with similar nonprofit funding model.
• King Manor Museum: Historic house museum in Queens, NY, located in the former home of a Founding Era signer of the Constitution. Operates in the same borough with similar historic-house-museum programming, school field trips, and community events.
• Wyckoff House Museum: Brooklyn-based 17th-century historic house museum offering school programs, garden education, and community events. Comparable as a NYC historic site museum with similar education-focused nonprofit operations.
• Dyckman House Museum: Manhattan historic Dutch colonial farmhouse museum offering educational programs and events. Comparable as a NYC historic house museum with a similar small-staff nonprofit operating model and STEAM-adjacent programming.
• Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum: Bronx, NY historic house museum and gardens operated as a nonprofit with educational programs and event rentals. Comparable as a NYC historic house museum combining preservation, education, and private-event revenue.
• John Bowne House: Queens, NY historic house museum and Flushing landmark co-listed on the same annual Holly Tour as Lewis Latimer House. Comparable as a small historic-house museum offering educational tours and community programming.
• Queens Historical Society: Queens-based nonprofit that preserves local history and runs programming across multiple historic sites including the Kingsland Homestead. Comparable as a peer heritage organization operating in the same borough.

Broad incumbents

• Museum of Chinese in America: NYC-based cultural heritage museum focused on the Chinese American experience, with exhibitions, education programs, and community events. Comparable as a larger-scale ethnic-heritage museum operating under a similar nonprofit, education-driven model.

Emerging players

• African Burial Ground National Monument: Federal historic site in Lower Manhattan dedicated to preserving and interpreting the history of enslaved and free Africans in colonial NYC. Comparable as a NYC-based Black heritage interpretation site, though federally operated rather than community nonprofit.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/lewislatimerhouse
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lewislatimerhouse

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Lewis Latimer House