Background
Frederick Douglass Patterson was born on October 10, 1901 in Washington, D. C. to Mamie Lucille and William Ross Patterson. Patterson was orphaned by the age of 2 when both of his parents died from tuberculosis.
(This is the inspiring biography of the one-time commandan...)
This is the inspiring biography of the one-time commandant of cadets at Hampton Institute and the successor to Booker T. Washington at Tuskegee Institute as related by his lifelong friends, colleagues, and students. The years he spent at Tuskegee in the shadow of the great and the vision and courage necessary to change that institution from a vocational school to a liberal arts college are vividly recounted. Originally published in 1956. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.
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Frederick Douglass Patterson was born on October 10, 1901 in Washington, D. C. to Mamie Lucille and William Ross Patterson. Patterson was orphaned by the age of 2 when both of his parents died from tuberculosis.
In later years he studied in the Agriculture Department at the Prairie View Normal and Industrial Institute (now Prairie View A&M University) in Texas. Later, he enrolled at Iowa State College (now University) College of Veterinary Medicine, where he graduated in 1923.
In 1935 Frederick Douglas Patterson became president of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, one of the foremost African American institutions of higher education in the country. His stated purpose at the time of his inauguration was not only to increase the vocational training of his students but also to raise them to higher levels of academic competency and thus make them more qualified wage earners. He is also remembered for his creation in 1943 of the United Negro College Fund, an organization dedicated to raising and distributing scholarships to deserving minority students.
After adding courses on the principles of nutrition and dietetics to the curriculum of Tuskegee, Patterson oversaw the adoption and growth of the federally sponsored school-lunch program. He felt that this program must be expanded because academic achievement rested on a strong nutritional base, which many underprivileged children lacked. He firmly believed that for Tuskegee to thrive, the school had to reach its potential students before they fell victim to poverty.
In the early 1940s Patterson's administration also established the George Washington Carver Foundation, which provided grants and monies to qualified students. Begun in 1940 by Carver himself, the foundation nearly doubled its assets in six years, rising from thirty-three thousand dollars to sixty thousand dollars. The fund expanded its base by undertaking research from commercial firms, and by 1947 eleven students working under grants were researching in paper, ink, foods, and animal nutrition.
In 1943 Patterson called a meeting of the heads of all of the major predominantly black institutions of higher education to plan a joint fund-raising venture. The result was the organization of the United Negro College Fund, of which he was elected president. Originally twenty-seven institutions joined the organization, which was incorporated in New York. By 1945 the group had grown to thirty-two members, and by 1947 the organization was raising more than a million dollars annually.
As a member of President Harry S Truman 's Commission on Higher Education, Patterson helped file a 1947 report calling for the reorganization of higher education in the United States. The commission listed as its main priority doubling the number of students attending college. It also called for more types of scholarships, fellowships, and grants and called for the end of segregation—not because of ethical questions but because of the duplication of separate but comparable black and white programs. The commission also called for free education for all through the junior college level and a lowering of tuition and fees at colleges, graduate schools, and professional schools. Most of these suggestions were not enacted.
In 1946 Patterson's plan to improve the housing of farmers earning substandard incomes was reported and discussed in The New York Times . He felt that these lower-class tenants could create building blocks and erect fireproof structures inexpensively. This report attracted several potential investors, models were built on the Tuskegee campus, and the students constructed a four-room house for a neighboring farmer. As in other ventures, Patterson was in housing a man of vision and versatility.
Dr. Patterson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Ronald Reagan on June 23, 1987 in recognition of his lifetime of leadership and success in the educational field. He received a Candace Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women in 1986.
In 1988, he was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP.
(This is the inspiring biography of the one-time commandan...)
Patterson is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
