Walter Lincoln Hawkins
Encyclopedia
Walter Lincoln Hawkins was an African-American scientist and inventor who, while working at Bell Laboratories
in the 1940s, helped to make universal telephone
service possible. Hawkins developed a plastic to insulate telephone wires — a new material that was lightweight, durable, and less expensive than the lead
sheathing used at the time.
His father was a lawyer for the U.S. Census Bureau
and his mother was a science teacher in the District of Columbia school system.
From childhood, Hawkins was fascinated with how things worked. For example, it was not unusual for him to take apart one toy and reassemble it to make another one. He also made spring-driven toy boats to sail in the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial
. Hawkins and a fellow eleven-year-old once tried to build a perpetual motion machine, not realizing that it was an impossible task. He built a working radio so he could listen to Washington Senators
baseball games.
While at Washington's Dunbar High School
, Hawkins noticed that his physics teacher drove an expensive new car every year. The teacher, who had invented a self-starter mechanism
to replace automobile hand cranks, received a new car each year as partial payment from the company which had bought the mechanism. Hawkins was tremendously excited to discover that a person could make a living through mechanical tinkering.
After graduating from high school Hawkins became one of two African-Americans enrolled at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a well-known engineering school in Troy, New York. In 1932 he graduated with a chemical engineering degree. Unable to find a job during the Great Depression, he enrolled in graduate school at Howard University
,where in 1934, he earned a Master's degree in chemistry. Professor Howard Blatt, Hawkins’ friend and mentor at Howard, informed him of a special scholarship at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Hawkins enrolled at McGill, earned his Doctorate in Chemistry in 1939, and left to continue his research at Columbia University when he received a fellowship from the National Research Council.
, the Japanese
had cut off much of America’s rubber supply from Southeast Asia. Hawkins contributed to the development of a rubber substitute made from petroleum
stock.
After the war, Hawkins began work on an important project, a new and improved insulation for telephone cables. Underground and underwater cables, which were laid over incredibly long distances, were covered with fiber wrapped in heavy, expensive lead sheathing. Scientists had known that new, lightweight plastics would be a good alternative, but common plastics did not last long outdoors. Hawkins and Vincent Lanza invented a plastic coating that could withstand extreme fluctuations in temperature, last up to seventy years, and was less expensive than lead. Telephone lines were subsequently installed in rural areas, bringing affordable phone service to thousands of people.
Hawkins, who worked at Bell Labs for thirty-four years, became assistant director of their chemical research lab in 1974. His work with polymers, primarily plastics, focused on the development of new products and recycling
. The extremely durable nature of plastic becomes a huge problem when it must be discarded. Hawkins became an expert, not only in making plastics last longer, but in recycling these seemingly indestructible products.
(Support of the Educationally & Economically Disadvantaged), an American Chemical Society
program designed to promote science careers for minority students. He also helped to set up a program at Bell Labs and AT&T
to recruit African-American scientists and engineers.
Hawkins was frequently honored as a polymer chemistry pioneer. The first African-American to become a member of the National Academy of Engineering
, Hawkins also won the International Medal of the Society of Plastics. In 1992 White House
ceremony, he received the National Medal of Technology
from President George H. W. Bush
.
Bell Labs
Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
in the 1940s, helped to make universal telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
service possible. Hawkins developed a plastic to insulate telephone wires — a new material that was lightweight, durable, and less expensive than the lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
sheathing used at the time.
Early years
Hawkins was born on March 21, 1911, in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
His father was a lawyer for the U.S. Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
and his mother was a science teacher in the District of Columbia school system.
From childhood, Hawkins was fascinated with how things worked. For example, it was not unusual for him to take apart one toy and reassemble it to make another one. He also made spring-driven toy boats to sail in the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial is an American memorial built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The architect was Henry Bacon, the sculptor of the main statue was Daniel Chester French, and the painter of the interior...
. Hawkins and a fellow eleven-year-old once tried to build a perpetual motion machine, not realizing that it was an impossible task. He built a working radio so he could listen to Washington Senators
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
baseball games.
While at Washington's Dunbar High School
Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.)
Dunbar High School is a public secondary school located in Washington, D.C., United States. The school is located in the Truxton Circle neighborhood of Northwest Washington, two blocks from the intersection of New Jersey and New York Avenues...
, Hawkins noticed that his physics teacher drove an expensive new car every year. The teacher, who had invented a self-starter mechanism
Automobile self starter
A starter motor is an electric motor for rotating an internal-combustion engine so as to initiate the engine's operation under its own power.- History :...
to replace automobile hand cranks, received a new car each year as partial payment from the company which had bought the mechanism. Hawkins was tremendously excited to discover that a person could make a living through mechanical tinkering.
After graduating from high school Hawkins became one of two African-Americans enrolled at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a well-known engineering school in Troy, New York. In 1932 he graduated with a chemical engineering degree. Unable to find a job during the Great Depression, he enrolled in graduate school at Howard University
Howard University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
,where in 1934, he earned a Master's degree in chemistry. Professor Howard Blatt, Hawkins’ friend and mentor at Howard, informed him of a special scholarship at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Hawkins enrolled at McGill, earned his Doctorate in Chemistry in 1939, and left to continue his research at Columbia University when he received a fellowship from the National Research Council.
Bell Laboratories
In 1942, Hawkins became the first African-American to join the technical staff of Bell Laboratories. By controlling much of the Pacific theater in World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Japanese
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
had cut off much of America’s rubber supply from Southeast Asia. Hawkins contributed to the development of a rubber substitute made from petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
stock.
After the war, Hawkins began work on an important project, a new and improved insulation for telephone cables. Underground and underwater cables, which were laid over incredibly long distances, were covered with fiber wrapped in heavy, expensive lead sheathing. Scientists had known that new, lightweight plastics would be a good alternative, but common plastics did not last long outdoors. Hawkins and Vincent Lanza invented a plastic coating that could withstand extreme fluctuations in temperature, last up to seventy years, and was less expensive than lead. Telephone lines were subsequently installed in rural areas, bringing affordable phone service to thousands of people.
Hawkins, who worked at Bell Labs for thirty-four years, became assistant director of their chemical research lab in 1974. His work with polymers, primarily plastics, focused on the development of new products and recycling
Recycling
Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
. The extremely durable nature of plastic becomes a huge problem when it must be discarded. Hawkins became an expert, not only in making plastics last longer, but in recycling these seemingly indestructible products.
Later years
Upon his retirement from Bell Labs in 1976, Hawkins began teaching and encouraging college students to study science and engineering. In 1981, he became the first chairman of Project SEEDProject SEED
Project SEED is a mathematics education program which works in school districts across the United States. Project SEED is a nonprofit organization that works in partnership with school districts, universities, foundations, and corporations to teach advanced math to elementary and middle school...
(Support of the Educationally & Economically Disadvantaged), an American Chemical Society
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 161,000 members at all degree-levels and in all fields of chemistry, chemical...
program designed to promote science careers for minority students. He also helped to set up a program at Bell Labs and AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
to recruit African-American scientists and engineers.
Death and legacy
On August 20, 1992 Walter Lincoln Hawkins died in San Marcos, California.Hawkins was frequently honored as a polymer chemistry pioneer. The first African-American to become a member of the National Academy of Engineering
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering is a government-created non-profit institution in the United States, that was founded in 1964 under the same congressional act that led to the founding of the National Academy of Sciences...
, Hawkins also won the International Medal of the Society of Plastics. In 1992 White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
ceremony, he received the National Medal of Technology
National Medal of Technology
The National Medal of Technology and Innovation is an honor granted by the President of the United States to American inventors and innovators who have made significant contributions to the development of new and important technology...
from President George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
.
Further reading
- Kessler, James H., J.S. Kidd, Renee A. Kidd, and Katherine A. Morin. Distinguished African-American Scientists of the 20th Century. Oryx Press: Phoenix, AZ, 1996.
- McMurray, Emily, ed. Notable Twentieth-Century Scientists. Gale Research, Inc.: Detroit, 1995.
- Sammons, Vivian Ovelton. Blacks in Science & Medicine. Hemisphere Publishing Corporation, New York, 1990.