Dr. Patten's Life
-
Thelma Adele Patten born in Huntsville, Texas, December 30, 1900 to Mason and Adele Garza Patten.
- Patten family are living at 815 Houston Avenue (current location of Knapp Chevrolet)
-
Mason Patten Jr. born, July 31. Thelma
Patten's oldest brother. He died on July 10, 1957 in San Diego,
California.
-
Donovan Patten (above) born February 5. He died at the age of 19 on March, 8, 1927. His death certificate indicated that pulmonary tuberculosis was the cause of death. The death certificate was signed by his sister, Dr. Thelma Patten Law.
-
Family is living at 1018 Ruthven.
- Eliza Patten born either 1909 or 1910. Youngest of Thelma's siblings.
Patten family buys house at 1018 Ruthven in Fourth Ward for $1,100 (photo linked to Afropix)
Houston's
black population is 23,929
out of a total
population of 78,800
1911
1912
1913
- Rosa Parks born, Tuskegee, Alabama
1914
- Texas first NAACP Chapter formed in El Paso, soon followed by Houston, who later will honor Dr. Patten.
- In Guinn v. United States, the Supreme Court rules against grandfather clauses used to deny Blacks the vote.
- June 3 - graduated Houston (Colored/Negro) High School in Fourth Ward. Later renamed Booker T. Washington. Picture courtesy of HISD and Houston Arts & Media
- Completed Pre-Medical training at Howard University, and began medical school in October.
- Dr. Patten's father, Mason Patten dies in railroad accident.
- Blue Triangle YMCA accepted into the Central Association of the Y, after being founded in 1918. Memorial library named after Dr. Patten
Houston's
black
population is 33,960
out of a
total
population of 138,276
- The Texas
Commission on Inter-racial Cooperation Formed
- 500 Ku Klux
Klan March on Congress Avenue in Austin
- July 1 - Dr. Patten began internship at Freedman's Hospital
- July 23 - she received her Medical License 1298 in Washington D.C.
In Moore v. Dempsey, the Supreme Court holds that mob-dominated trials violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
- May 24 - received Medical License A - 0451 in Texas
- James Roland Law is born, later to become Dr. Patten's step-son.
- Pilgrim Temple built at Brazos and Gray. Later is location of Pauline Anna's debutante party.
- June 19, 1926 dedication
of Houston Negro Hospital,
Dr. Benjamin Jesse Covington.
(Courtesy of Special Collections, MD Anderson Library, University of Houston)
- First
President of Delta
Sigma Theta Sorority (now
known as the Houston Alumnae
Chapter) First Black
Greek-letter organization in
- The
Houston's
black
population is 63,337
out
of a
total
population of 292,352
- James "Jimmy" Hezekiah Law and Thelma Adele Patten marry
- June 3, 1931, Pauline Anna is born
- Barbara Jordan is born, delivered by Dr. Patten. She goes on to national prominence during Watergate hearings.
- Dr. Patten and Dr. Lee work unsuccessfully to save Dr. Dogan Pemberton, who was shot while making a house call.
- American Medical Association votes to accept birth control as legitimate part of medical practice.
- W.E.B. Dubois, PhD. publishes article on "Negroes and Birth Control"
- Maternal Health Center (now Planned Parenthood) article, with quotes from Agnese Carter Nelms about Dr. Patten (page 9)
- Billie Holiday first performs Strange Fruit in New York City.
- Marion
Anderson
sings
at the
Lincoln
Memorial
after
the Daughters
of the
American
Revolution
refused
permission
for
to
sing
to an
integrated
audience
in Constitution
Hall.
- Dr. Patten elected Lone Star State Medical Association President. Brings National Negro Medical Association's Annual Meeting to Houston.
1940
Houston's
black
population
is 86,302 out
of a
total
population
of 384,514
- U.S. Army forms the Tuskegee Airmen
- President
Franklin
Delano
Roosevelt
issues
"Fair
Employment
Act",
to
require
equal
treatment
and
training
of all
employees
by
defense
contractors
- Committee on Racial Equality founded
-
St.
- Texas Southern University -TSU- founded
- Jackie Robinson ( a relative of Dr. Patten's) plays his first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers
- Quentin Mease begins working for Houston YMCA. In a recent interview about the Laws, he describes them as "respectful, successful leaders in the community that helped others break racial barriers."
- Shelley v. Kraemer - the Supreme Court rules that the government could not enforce racial restrictive covenants
- President Harry S. Truman orders the end of segregation in the Armed Forces
- African-American ministers join the fundraising campaign for Planned Parenthood.
Houston's
black
population
is
125,194
out
of
a
total
population
of
596,163
- Links, Inc. Houston Chapter founded by Dr. Patten and 13 women friends. Picture of first birthday party
- The Supreme Court rules against the "separate but equal" doctrine in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans. and in Bolling v. Sharpe, thus overturning Plessy v. Ferguson.
- Brown v. Board of Education ignored in Houston
- Joined Harris County Medical Society (1956 first year in pictorial roster). First African-American female accepted into membership.
- South Central YMCA opens
- Montgomery Bus Boycotts
- Marion Anderson becomes first black to sing at the Metropolitan Opera (Ulrica in Masked Ball).
- Teenager Emmett Till is killed for whistling at a white woman in Money, Mississippi.
- Interstate Commerce Commission bans bus segregation in interstate travel in Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company.
- Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus, starting the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
- The Southern Manifesto opposing integration of schools, was created and signed by members of the Congressional delegations of Southern states
- Director
J.
Edgar
Hoover
orders
the
FBI
to
begin
the
COINTELPRO
program
to
investigate
and
disrupt
"dissident"
groups
within
the
United
States.
- Pauline Anna Law is elected to the Planned Parenthood Board of Directors, the first African-American.
- President Dwight Eisenhower federalized National Guard and ordered US Army troops to ensure Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas is integrated.
- Southern
Christian
Leadership
Conference
formed.
- Stearns denied admission to UT Law School
- First African-American patient quietly admitted (sometime from 1957-1960) to St. Luke's Hospital by Dr. Mavis Kelsey, Sr.
- Houston's Jim Crow laws are challenged by Texas Southern University students (hear Dr. Edith Irby Jones talk about it). It is unknown what Dr. Patten's involvement was, but her connections to those helping fund the movement, like Susan McAshan, were close.
Houston's
black
population
is
215,790
out
of
a
total
population
of
938,219
- Greensboro, N.C. sit-in
- Nashville sit-ins.
- First Houston sit-in
- Moratorium on demonstrations
- Bus station lunch counter serves blacks
- Boycott of Houston downtown stores
- Bob Dundas arranges media blackout
- 70 Houston lunch counters quietly integrated
- Felton Turner of Houston beaten and hanged upside-down in a tree, initials KKK carved on his chest.
- Houston Chapter of Links, Inc. honors Dr. Patten in December
- Rice University students join Texas Southern Students in effort to integrate Union Station
- President John F. Kennedy establishes a Presidential committee that later becomes the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- 48 students arrested at Houston railroad station
- Black leaders support domed stadium
- The first group of Freedom Riders, with the intent of integrating interstate buses, leaves Washington, D.C. by Greyhound bus.
- Houston Branch of the NAACP honors Dr. Patten at a Life Membership testimonial Dinner at Antioch Baptist Church, October 29.
- Houston's Zeta and Delta cite her as Woman of the Year, March 25th.
- Black leaders take part in stadium ceremony
- Houston hotel desegregation agreement
- Houston convention hotels quietly desegregated
- Houston's first major league baseball game
- Houston downtown partially desegregated
- Stearns loses credibility with Black leaders
- President
John
F.
Kennedy
signs
order
eliminating
housing
segregation
by
signing
order
banning
segregation
in
Federally
funded
housing
- Planned Parenthood recognizes her for 25 years of service on January 29th. Dr. Irby talks about Planned Parenthood.
- Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"
- March on Washington, where Martin Luther King, Jr gave his "I Have A Dream" speech.
- Black protestors in Birmingham were attacked by police dogs and firehoses.
- 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama kills four young girls
- Students plan to protest at Cooper's parade
- No protest-desegregation agreement
- Houston theaters and restaurants desegregated
- Eldrewey Stearns graduated from TSU law school
- Mississippi NAACP chief Medgar Evers murdered
- Civil Rights Act of 1964 signed.
- Dr.
Martin
Luther
King
is
awarded
the
Nobel
Peace
Prize,
the
youngest
person
so
honored
- History of Negro Hospital, Riverside General Hospital published.
- Voting Rights Act of 1965 signed by President Johnson
- Bill Cosby co-stars in I Spy, a first for a black person on American television.
- Rice University is integrated.
- Black Panthers founded
- In Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court rules that prohibiting interracial marriage is unconstitutional.
- Thurgood Marshall is the first African American appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- Texas Southern University riot, policeman killed, over 450 students arrested. Dr. Edith Irby Jones talks about lunch counter sit-ins and arrests.
- Thelma Adele Patten Law dies November 12th, Pauline Anna Law dies December 7th. Both are buried at Paradise North Cemetery. There are no markers at their grave.
- On television, Petula Clark touches Harry Belafonte's arm during a duet. Show sponsor Chrysler Corporation insisted the moment be deleted, but Clark said no and delivered the program to NBC with the touch.
- April 4 - Dr. Martin Luther King is shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee by James Earl Ray.
- April 11 - Civil Rights Act of 1968 is signed. The Fair Housing Act is Title VIII of this bans housing discrimination.
- First interracial kiss on American television, on Star Trek