Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Feb. 22, 1996, edition 1 / Page 48
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Black Automaker Among Early Trailblazers Top: DoUie Patterson with the Patterson- Greenfield (1917). Center: One of the first models built Bottom: a chasis and engine for the Patterson- Greenfield motor car. “A customer can have a car any color he or she wants so long as it is black! Henry Ford \ I rederick Douglas Patterson I would have certainly agreed ith those words. For I Patterson, one of the I nation's few black automo bile manufacturers, real- I ized that black was the only color he could count on. Frederick's story began years before he built his first car with his father Charles “Rich" Patterson. One of the wealthiest men in his hometown, Patterson senior was the owner of the C.R. Patterson and Sons 10 AFRICAN AMERICANS ON WHEELS Carriage Company of Greenfield, Ohio. He was born into slavery to Charles and Nancy Patterson on a Virginia plantation in April 1833. He later became a black smith by trade. According to reports, just before the Civil War in 1861, he fled from slavery by crossing the Virginia Allegheny Mountains, hiking through West Virginia and crossing the chilling Ohio River wa ters. He eventually made it to the friendly town of Greenfield, apparently an impor tant station along the Underground Rail road. Because of his master craftsman skills, Patterson immediately got a job at the Dines and Simpson Carriage and Coach Makers Company. Within a few years he had been promoted to foreman and later formed a partnership with J. P. Lowe, creating a car riage building company that was noted for its expert craftsmanship and high quality. He married the former Josephine Qutz and the couple had four children: Katherine, Dollie, Frederick Douglas and Samuel. By the time the youngest Samuel came along, Patterson was al ready very successful. He had bought out his white partner and had started building the most popular carria'ges of the day. Patterson gave his boys the best education possible. Frederick was the first Afri can American to graduate from a local high school, and the following year he entered Ohio State University (OSU), where he was the first black to play on the school’s foot ball team. After three years, Frederick left OSU to teach in Kentucky, but only remained there for two years, before returning home to his first love — the family carriage busi ness. Soon after his arrival, how ever, his father died, leaving the young teacher and various relatives to operate the com pany. In search of more business, Frederick decided to accom pany his sales manager C.W Napper, on his route one day. As they traveled, he began to notice more and more of those “funny-looking horseless” car riages on the road. He imme diately reported his findings to the company’s board. “In 1902, there was one car to 65,000 people and by 1909 there was one vehicle for every 800 people and with those kinds of figures... I be lieve it’s time for us to build a Patterson horseless carriage,” he said. Frederick’s plan was bold. He wanted to build a vehicle that could compete against any car on the market by being more com fortable and easy to drive. Within two weeks, the factory began the transition to build the Patterson- Greenfield motor car. On Sept. 23, 1915, young Patterson saw his dream roll off the line — an awkward looking two-door coupe. Word about the new vehicle swept across the state like a brush fire. Some of those who saw the vehicle claimed it came with a 40 horsepower Continental 4-cylin- der engine; reported top speed of nearly 50 mph and had better bodywork than the “Tin Lizzie”being made up in Detroit by some fellow named “Ford.”(Of course, by this time, Henry Ford was well on the way to becoming one of the largest automobile producers in the world.) The Patterson-Greenfield was priced at $850. It came in two models; a roadster and a big four- door touring car. However, the venture was short-lived because of a lack of capital and slow sales.
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Feb. 22, 1996, edition 1
48
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