Alice H. Parker

Alice H. Parker (1895 – 1920) was an African American inventor who was active in the early 1900s. She is known for her patent for a heating furnace using natural gas.

Early life Parker was born in 1895 in Morristown, New Jersey, where she grew up.

Parker attended Howard University Academy, a high school associated with Howard University, and was awarded a certificate with honors in 1910.

Innovative impact Alice H. Parker, prior to graduating from Howard University, filed a patent for a special type of heating device around 1919. The system was unlike other furnace solutions at the time. The system provided a much safer way of generating heat instead of burning wood, and had air ducts allowing heat to spread throughout buildings the system was installed in. It also had the ability to control independently the temperature in different areas, Owners would have to manually find coal or stock up on wood to fuel their fires, which takes a lot of time and effort. Additionally, it’s not safe to keep a fire burning all night, Additionally, the way her invention allowed for making the temperatures in each room differently set the stage for temperature controls used in smart home systems,

Parker felt that the fireplace was not enough to keep her and her home warm during the cold New Jersey winter, and designed the first gas furnace that was powered by natural gas and the first heating system to contain individually controlled air ducts that distributed heat evenly throughout the building. Parker's heating system used independently controlled burner units that drew in cold air and conveyed the heat through a heat exchanger. This air was then fed into individual ducts to control the amount of heat in different areas.

The design poses health and safety risks as it made certain appliances like the oven more flammable and unsafe to touch. The regulation of the heat flow also posed a few security risks. Parker's invention also decreased the risk of house or building fires by eliminating the need to leave a burning fireplace on overnight. With her idea for a furnace used with modifications to eliminate safety concerns, it inspired and led the way to features such as thermostats, zone heating and forced air furnaces, which are common features of modern central heating. By using natural gas, it heated homes more efficiently than wood or coal counterparts (which were more time consuming and expensive). Parker's invention was further improved in 1935 by scientists who created forced convection wall heaters that use a coal furnace, electric fan, and ductwork throughout a home. Nowadays, homes utilize thermostats and forced air furnaces which can be attributed to Parker's design and invention of the central heating furnace. Other inventors prior to Parker invented furnaces, but she improved their designs.

Legacy In 2019, the National Society of Black Physicists honored Parker as an "African American inventor famous for her patented system of central heating using natural gas." It called her invention a "revolutionary idea" for the 1920s, "that conserved energy and paved the way for the central heating systems". The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce established the Alice H. Parker Women Leaders in Innovation Awards to honor women who use their "talent, hard work and ‘outside-the-box’ thinking to create economic opportunities and help make New Jersey a better place to live and work."

Parker’s patent for her gas furnace, although groundbreaking, was never chosen to enter full-fledged production and usage. This was mainly due to the safety concerns behind her design, as the technology available at the time did not possess the capability to regulate the heat flow as outlined in Parker’s invention. However, Parker’s patent has served as a basis for the development of heating systems throughout the 20th century and today. Parker’s design, which allows for an individual to control the heating received for each room in a house, is recognizable in the zonal heating system, and especially the “smart home” technology, that is used by nearly all households in the current century.

Parker’s legacy lives on numerous awards and grants, and most noticeably in the annual Alice H. Parker Women Leaders in Innovation Award that is given out by the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce to celebrate outstanding women innovators in Parker’s home state. However, the details regarding her later years are as unknown as the details available for her early life. The specific date for her death, along with the cause, is largely unknown with the information currently available.