C.R PATTERSON AND SONS: The first black owned automobile company.

Описание: The first black owned automobile company.

"Born into slavery in April 1833 on a Virginia plantation, Charles Richard Patterson's early years were spent in bondage. It's believed that young Patterson worked in the plantation's blacksmith and wagon repair shop, skills that would prove vital in his later life."
"In 1861, on the brink of the Civil War, Patterson made a daring escape through the Allegheny Mountains, crossing the Ohio River to Greenfield, Ohio. There, he entered the carriage-building trade, eventually rising to foreman."
"After his company was acquired, Patterson became a partner in the new business, eventually taking sole ownership and rebranding as C.R. Patterson & Sons. He produced 28 different styles of carriages, from simple buggies to elaborate designs for professionals."
"After Charles Patterson's death in 1910, his son Frederick took over the business. Born in Greenfield in 1871, Frederick was the first black football player at The Ohio State University. He later joined his father’s company, convinced that automobiles were the future."
"In 1913, Frederick added auto repair services to their carriage business, gaining hands-on experience with the new technology. From 1915 to 1918, they built over 100 two-door coupes, though they couldn't compete with Ford's assembly line, as innovative as Black businessman and engineer Frederick Douglass Patterson was, he lacked Henry Ford’s deep pockets.
"Frederick saw an opportunity in school transportation. Transitioning from carriages to motorized school buses, the company became a leading bus manufacturer, producing up to 500 buses a month and dominating the market in several states. At the company’s apex, one-third of the school buses in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia and Pennsylvania were Pattersons. Some Patterson buses were still on the roads as late as the 1950s.
"The Great Depression, Frederick’s death in 1932, and tighter school bus manufacturing regulations, coupled with a labor strike, led to the company’s closure in 1939 after a brief move to Gallipolis, Ohio."
For their remarkable accomplishments while facing ostracism, prejudice, and other obstacles, on July 22, 2021, both C. R. Patterson and his son
Frederick Douglass Patterson were inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame,2 one of the highest honors in the automotive industry
"Over 150 years after its founding, C.R. Patterson & Sons is celebrated as the only Black-founded and Black-owned automaker in American history, a symbol of perseverance and achievement."