Alice H. Parker was an African American inventor from Morristown, New Jersey, best known for designing and patenting a natural‑gas‑powered central heating system in the early twentieth century.

She was born around 1895 in Morristown, New Jersey, and attended Howard University Academy, graduating with honors in 1910. Very little additional information about her personal life is documented, reflecting the broader historical underrepresentation of Black women inventors in archival records of that era.

On December 23, 1919, Parker was granted U.S. Patent No. 1,325,905 for a heating furnace system after filing her application in July 1918. Her design used natural gas rather than the wood or coal that were commonly used for heating at the time. The system drew in cool air, heated it through a heat exchanger, and distributed warm air throughout a building using air ducts. A particularly forward‑thinking feature of her design was the use of multiple independently controlled burners, allowing different rooms or zones to be heated separately, a concept that anticipated modern zoned heating.

Although Parker’s invention was not commercially developed during her lifetime, partly because contemporary technology could not adequately regulate the heat flow she envisioned, her concept helped lay the groundwork for modern central heating, HVAC systems, thermostats, and zoned heating solutions that are now standard in residential and commercial buildings.

Her achievement is especially significant given the social and institutional barriers faced by Black women in science and engineering decades before the Civil Rights Movement. Alice H. Parker’s work stands as a powerful example of innovation, technical insight, and perseverance, and her legacy continues to inspire recognition of women innovators in the United States and beyond.