They Built America's ONLY Black-Owned Car Company...Then Lost It ALL: C.R. Patterson & Sons. Charles Richard Patterson was born into slavery in 1833, yet he defied every odd to build a highly prosperous carriage manufacturing business in Greenfield, Ohio. His son, Frederick, would later transform that family business into C.R. Patterson & Sons—the first and only African American-owned automobile manufacturing company in United States history. Discover the incredible true story of resilience, the fierce rivalry with Henry Ford, and the tragic collapse of this historic Black-owned empire: - From Slavery to Business Owner: After settling in Ohio, Charles Patterson mastered blacksmithing and eventually partnered with a white carriage builder to open a business in 1873. He later bought out his partner to form C.R. Patterson and Sons, a highly respected carriage manufacturer boasting an integrated workforce of Black and white employees. - Fighting the System: When the local school board refused to let his son Frederick attend high school because of his race, Charles successfully sued the board and forced them to integrate. Frederick went on to become class valedictorian and the first Black football player in Ohio State University history. - The Patterson Greenfield Automobile: Taking over after his father's death, Frederick pivoted the carriage business toward the future. In 1915, they released the Patterson Greenfield car, an $850 vehicle with a 40-horsepower engine that was widely considered to be built with better craftsmanship than Ford's Model T. - The Massive Bus Pivot: Realizing that his handcrafted cars could not compete with Ford's fast and cheap assembly lines, Frederick brilliantly pivoted the business again. Renamed the Greenfield Bus Body Company around 1921, the factory produced up to 500 buses a month and supplied one-third of all school buses across five states. - The Tragic Collapse: Following Frederick's death in 1932, the company struggled through the devastating economic impact of the Great Depression. The historic factory was finally forced to close its doors forever in 1939. Decades later, in 2021, the Pattersons were rightfully inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame. Subscribe to The Black Wealth Explainer for more cinematic deep dives into the secret empires, financial blueprints, and inspiring journeys of Black history's most prominent figures! 0:00 The Blacksmith Who Built an Empire 0:38 A New Beginning in Greenfield 4:41 The Fight for the Classroom 7:59 Pivoting to the Automobile Age 12:53 The Strategic Shift to Bus Manufacturing 16:08 The Great Depression and the Final Curtain #CRPatterson #TheBlackWealthExplainer #BlackHistory #BlackEntrepreneurs #AutomotiveHistory #GenerationalWealth