Clatonia j dorticus biography

Clatonia Joaquin Dorticus was born in Cuba in 1863.
March 19, 1895 Clatonia Joaquin Dorticus of Newton, New Jersey received patent number 535,820 for a device for applying coloring liquids to sides of soles.
Cuban born, Clatonia Joaquin Dorticus of Newton, New Jersey invented an improved photographic print and negative wash machine.

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In honor of Black History Month, we wanted to take some time to highlight the Black pioneers of the printing industry. These individuals and their innovations and contributions helped mold the printing industry as we know it today.

George Washington Carver (1864-1943)

Born a slave in 1864 near Diamond Grove, Missouri, George Washington Carver was an esteemed botanist and experimenter whose development of new products derived from peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans helped revolutionize the agricultural economy of the South.

One of the products that came out of Washington Carver’s agricultural innovations was printer ink. Washington Carver invented printer ink as one of the 325 ways to make legumes profitable. Today, most oil-based printer ink uses linseed or soybean oil as a solvent to combine pigments. This kind of ink then dries through evaporation.

Sources: Medium.com, History.com

Clatonia Joaquin Dorticus (1864-1903)

Dorticus, who came from Afro-Cuban descent, invented the improved film washer machine for photographs and negatives. Before his invention, photograp

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Hill Museum to have Dorticus exhibit Saturday

NEWTON — Clatonia Joaquin Dorticus, a photographer and an inventor, long an enigma in Sussex County, will be the topic of an exhibit at the Hill Museum, 82 Main St., Newton, beginning Saturday.

The exhibit is sponsored by the Sussex County Historical Society. Spokesman Peter Lubrecht says the museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Saturday to allow visitors an opportunity to view photographs and inventions by Dorticus. The exhibit is open to the general public and has no admission fee.

Lubrecht plans to compile a booklet to accompany the exhibit containing 100 photographs that Dorticus took in his studio and around Newton toward the end of the 19th century.

Why Dorticus? Lubrecht says it was while sorting out negatives and slides of the Townley Studio at the Hill Museum that the first ones he did were of two beautiful black girls, and as he proceeded, he discovered that there was a series of them. Intrigued by this finding, Lubrecht inquired of fellow society trustee James Wright about African-American subjects in Sussex

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Print Washer
Clatonia Joaquin Dorticus

By Mary Bellis

Cuban born, Clatonia Joaquin Dorticus of Newton, New Jersey invented an improved photographic print and negative wash machine (see patent drawing to right). During the process of developing a photographic print or negative, the product is soaked in several chemical baths. The print wash neutralizes the chemicals in each bath process, so that the time the chemicals effect a print can be exactly controlled. Clatonia Joaquin Dorticus believed his method would eliminate over washing that could soften the photograph too much.

Clatonia Joaquin Dorticus also invented an improved machine for embossing photographs (see patent drawing left). His machine was designed to both/either mount or emboss a photographic print. Embossing is a method or raising parts of a photograph for a relief or 3D look.

Clatonia Joaquin Dorticus's other inventions included an applicator for applying color liquid dyes to shoes and heels, and a hose leek stop.

List of Patents - Clatonia Joaquin Doritus
Issued to Clatonia Joaquin Dorticus

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