The C. R. Patterson and Sons Company

A History of the First Black Auto Manufacturers - Second Edition major update WINNER in History -- 2022 American Writing Awards "A masterful and compelling deep dive into indelible chapters of untouched and never explored American history, stunning your sensibilities of what you thought you knew. In over a decade of filmmaking, I've never seen more replete research for a Hollywood project! Christopher Nelson takes you on a winding journey through the past with elements still entirely relatable to the present. A must-read for generations to come as these pioneers are finally given a well-deserved place in the annals of history." Madisun Leigh - Scenario Entertainment & Pergola Pictures "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 Chapman "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 too often been overlooked in American history. This book should be recommended reading for the youth of today." RZ Texas This new edition contains 160 additional pages of details not discussed in the 2010 edition of the book and includes nearly 50 new photographs and other illustrations. 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 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 this book 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. it also provides a glimpse into the lives of the Pattersons through 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.