Innovation

The USPTO’s Eastern Regional Outreach Office is based in the Alexandria, Virginia, headquarters of the USPTO. It serves Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Pelham was born in Petersburg, Virginia in 1859, but his family moved to Detroit shortly after his birth. His parents sought more educational opportunities for their children than allowed by the strict literacy laws for African Americans in pre-Civil War Virginia.