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Black History Month: Andrew F. Hilyer

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During the month of February, we’ll be sharing the stories and honoring the contributions of two amazing Black inventors that changed the filtration industry.

First up is Andrew F. Hilyer, the inventor of Evaporators for Hot-Air Registers, which were the pre-cursor for the humidifier.
Andrew F. Hilyer was born a slave in Georgia in 1858. He left the south and eventually settled in Minneapolis, Minnesota with relatives after his mother passed away.

While living as a free man in Minneapolis, he met and befriended wealthy white families such as the Pillsbury family (yes, the founding family of The Pillsbury Doughboy Company) who helped him pursue his education. He graduated from Minneapolis High School in 1878 and went on to graduate from the University of Minnesota in 1882. He was the first African American graduate from the University of Minnesota. He continued his education at Howard University’s Law School where he earned an LL. B in 1884 and an LL.M 1885.

He began his career at the Treasury Department where he eventually became Secretary-Treasurer. He organized community activities, served as the first president of the Union League of the District of Columbia, published black businesspeople directories, attended the Paris Exposition of 1900, and founded the Correspondence Club (a secret black lobbyist organization). Mr. Hilyer even found time to tinker in science and engineering.

 

In 1900, Mr. Hilyer was awarded two patents – water evaporators and accessories – for his inventions in air humidification.

“The object of my present invention is to readily supply the heated air of a room with a proper amount of moisture for health and comfort…” – Andrew F. Hilyer, Patent US438159A

Mr. Hilyer’s invention was a water tank and towel that attached to wall registers to moisten the hot, dry air pumping through the heating systems. His invention attached to the front of a wall register (vent) which would blow the warm air through a wet towel, thus, sending evaporated wet, hot air through a room. His invention also “purified” the air. The towel acted as a filter by which it captured and prevented dust/dirt particles from passing through the vent into the home. Mr. Hilyer’s inventions would be cited in numerous modern-day air humidifier inventions, as recent as the 1990s.

Would you like to see more posts like this one? Let us know in the comments. 

About the Author

  • With over seven years of experience in the filtration industry, I am dedicated to making complex filtration concepts simple. As a passionate content creator, I have cultivated in-depth expertise, sharing insights and practical advice on all things filtration. I am committed to providing valuable, easy-to-understand content for anyone interested in healthier air and water solutions.

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Comments

  1. Katie says

    Stacey,

    That is so good to hear! We are so glad you enjoyed it and shared it with your family.

  6. Andrea says

    Great story on Mr. Andrew Hilyer. I was not aware of his story and his contribution to a product I have to use during allergy season. A part of history, that was unknown to me, but I will remember in the future. Thank-you FiltersFast for sharing this information.

  8. Katie says

    B D,

    We’re glad you enjoyed the blog. You are very right, thanks to Mr. Hilyer we are able to have devices in our home that help with the lack of humidity in the air during the winter. Be on the lookout for another blog featuring another amazing inventor coming later this month.

  10. Katie says

    Kathleen,

    We are excited to hear that you would like to see more stories like this one. We’ve got another one in the works to post later this month. If you would like to adjust your email preferences, please send an email to [email protected] and they should be able to help you.

  13. Katie says

    Jerry,

    We are so glad you enjoyed this blog post. Thank you for leaving such a thoughtful comment!

  15. B D Avery says

    Thank you for including this interesting information about Mr. Hilyer. Especially interesting in February when we need a bit of humidity in our homes here in the northeast – thank you Mr. Hilyer. I look forward to more bits of information this month. Keep them coming.

  17. Kathleen Kaseman says

    Yes, I would love to hear more stories like this but I just told filtersfast.com not to send anymore. Maybe I can reverse it

  20. Jerry says

    Thank you so much for this article. I am a 73 year old African American man and every day I find out that I have so much more to learn about the contributions of African Americans, not only to this country, but to the world.

  21. Katie says

    TJ,

    Thank you so much for reading our blog and for your thoughtful comment. We are thrilled to hear that you enjoyed it!

  22. TJ Fields says

    It’s incredibly refreshing to read about some of our country’s greatest inventors. More importantly, the African-American inventors that have shown tenacity in their quest to provide solutions to facilitate healthy living for the human race…

  23. Katie says

    Jill,

    We are happy to hear that you loved this blog! Look out for another one like it coming out later this month.

  28. Katie says

    Stacey,

    Your comment means so much to us. Thank you for being the best part of the FiltersFast.com Family!

  31. Katie says

    Chandra,

    Thank you so much for reading our blog! We are glad you enjoyed reading it. Be on the lookout for another blog this one coming out later this month!

  32. Katie says

    Trudy,

    You are so welcome! Thank you so much for reading our blog and we are thrilled to hear that you learned something from it!

  33. Katie says

    Frank,

    Thank you for reading our blog! Be on the lookout for another blog like this one coming later this month!

  37. Ben Kenley says

    Thankyou for the excellent article on mr.Andrew F. Hilyer.We Americans need to be knowledgeable of the achievements of all who have contributed to our American History.We are a great Nation as a result of the many who have spent their lives making this Nation what it is today.
    Ben Kenley

  40. chandra says

    This was great information during Black History month. I would like to see more concerning different inventors.

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