Abstract:
Photograph of Daniel J. Patton Jr., Battle Creek's first African-American principal, working with Lincoln Elementary School students in 1968.
Description:
Daniel J. Patton Jr. was born in Fulton, Ken., but lived in Battle Creek virtually all his life, graduated Western Michigan University with a degree in mortuary science and worked for his father, Battle Creek's first African-American funeral director. Patton Jr. began his career in education as a substitute teacher in Battle Creek Public Schools and later taught civics and mathematics at Southwestern Junior High School. After serving as the city's first community school director at Lincoln, he was named the school's principal in 1967. Patton also was a member of the Battle Creek chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality and the Human Relations Commission and president of the Battle Creek branch of the NAACP in 1956. He also participated in the White House Conference on youth Problems in 1966. At the time of his death in 1968, Patton was serving as the first black chairman of the Michigan Selective Service Board No. 217. A Feb. 11, 1991, Black History Month profile in the Battle Creek Enquirer recalled the community's shock at Patton's passing at age 40: "Daniel J. Patton Jr.," the paper wrote, "always had a request as he shook your hand: 'Give my love to everybody." In January 1970, an addition to the Lincoln School was dedicated as the Daniel J. Patton Jr. Community Center.
