The C. R. Patterson and Sons Company: Black Pioneers in the Vehicle Building Industry, 1865-1939

A History of the First Black Auto Manufacturers - Second Edition major update to the 2010 editionThis second edition contains many new details not discussed in the 2010 first edition of the book. It includes approximately 50 new photographs and other illustrations and it contains an additional 160 pages of information.

Selected review snippets from the 2010 edition:

"The Story Black History Missed! This definitive work on Patterson's company and the Patterson family deserves far more recognition by Black historians than what has been given." Larry Lankton

"Black Enterprise" The C. R. Patterson and Sons Company book was a good period-of-time story spanning the end of the horse drawn carriage into the horseless carriage era. Christopher Nelson did a particularly good comparison and contrast of a Black owned business and a White owned business during this era. The force and contributions of Black owned businesses have to often been overlooked in American history. This book should be recommended reading for the youth of today." RZ Texas

The C. R. Patterson and Sons Company conducted business in Greenfield, Ohio, from 1865-1939. Founded by Charles Richard (C.R.) Patterson, a free person of color born in the 1830s South and relocating to the North in the 1840s, this company passed through three generations of the Patterson family. Throughout its history the company transitioned from building carriages, automobiles, trucks, and then buses, all in order to keep up with the rapidly changing demands and technology of the transportation industry during that period. When C. R.'s son, Frederick, began producing automobiles in 1915, he became the first and only Black manufacturer ever known to have built an automobile. This company led many pioneering efforts in providing proper vehicles for both horse-drawn and motorized school transportation and was also an industry leader in winter buggy design. The company nearly saturated the markets of Ohio and surrounding states with their school buses during the 1920s. The Pattersons always tried to find their niche within the transportation industry where they could remain competitive and achieve continued success. The family was also involved in other areas as well, including Freemasonry, politics, and aiding Booker T. Washington in the founding of the National Negro Business League and serving in high positions within that organization for the first decade of the league's existence.

This company and family have a unique history, and a thoroughly detailed account has never been told that fully documents their story of overcoming adversity and surviving for 74 years in the White dominated business world. This book provides as many details as possible about the Patterson family from their arrival in Greenfield during the early 1840s until 1939 when a series of multiple factors, including the Great Depression, caused the family to finally lock the factory doors and close their unique chapter in history.

This book contains multiple never-before-seen photographs and other illustrations of the Patterson family, factory, and their products. This non-fiction history of the Pattersons is an adaptation of a Master's thesis and has been peer reviewed for content and accuracy. Initially written for an academic audience, the text is still readily understood by those of high school age and above. This book provides a never-before-seen glimpse into the lives of the Pattersons through conducting exhaustive research to discover those obscure gems of information that have remained hidden until now yet adds so much to the overall story of this family and company.

Author: Christopher Nelson
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: 09/20/2022
Pages: 368
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.19lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.82d
ISBN13: 9798848332070
ISBN10: 8848332072
BISAC Categories:
- History | General
- Transportation | Automotive | History

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