Background
Patterson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to Lionel Patterson and Josephine Nero Patterson.
Patterson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to Lionel Patterson and Josephine Nero Patterson.
She attended Danneel Elementary School and Gilbert Academy, where she developed a passion for running. She earned a scholarship to Tennessee State University in Nashville and graduated from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
lieutenant took officials 45 minutes to decide that Mission Patterson would get the bronze medal. Strickland was placed fourth. The London games were also the first time, the 200 meter distance race was included for women competitors.
In 1965, she founded Mickey"s Missiles, a track club for girls 6 to 18.
Boys joined the group several years later. lieutenant grew from three members its first year to more than 125 and produced Olympic sprinters Jackie Thompson, who competed in the 200-meter race in 1972, and Dennis Mitchell, who ran in the 100-meter dash in 1988, 1992 and 1996.
She managed the United States. women"s track team that toured the Soviet Union and Germany in 1969 and coached the team that competed against a Russian squad in Texas in 1974. In 1982, she founded the Martin Luther King Freedom Run in San Diego.
Patterson was named the Woman Athlete of the Year by the Amateur Athletic Union in 1949.
She received the San Diego Woman of the Year and Press Club Headliner awards. In 1978, she was inducted into the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame. Soon after, she was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame at the Superdome.
Patterson died on August 23, 1996 in National City, California).
She served as First Vice President of the Amateur Athletic Union, Director of the Pacific Southwest Association and the Young Men’s Christian Association, Governor of the Western District of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women, and a member of the Urban League, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and 1984 Olympic Spirit Team.