Marvin Breckinridge Patterson
Encyclopedia
Mary Marvin Breckinridge Patterson (1905-2002) (Marvin Breckinridge Patterson, or Marvin Breckinridge), was an American
photojournalist, cinematographer
, and philanthropist
. She used her middle name, Marvin, both professionally and personally.
, to John C. Breckinridge, of the prominent Kentucky
Breckinridge family
, and Isabella Goodrich Breckinridge, the daughter of B. F. Goodrich
. Her great-grandfather, John C. Breckinridge
, was Vice President of the United States
under James Buchanan
. Her godmother and cousin was Isabella Selmes Greenway, Arizona
's first congresswoman.
While a student at Vassar
, she helped found the National Student Federation of America
, which was to make her acquaintance with Edward R. Murrow
.
In 1929 she became the first female pilot licensed in Maine
.
", in 1930, which tells the story of the Frontier Nursing Service
, a nurse and midwifery health service founded by her cousin, Mary Breckinridge
, in the Appalachian mountains
of Kentucky. She traveled extensively and published photographs from her world travels in magazines such as Vogue
, National Geographic, Look magazine
, Life magazine, Town and Country
, and Harper's Bazaar
, especially a 1932 Africa
trip from Cape Town
to Cairo
.
During World War II
she was hired by Edward R. Murrow as the first female news broadcaster for the CBS Radio Network
. She reported 50 times, from 7 European countries, including reports from Berlin
, Germany
. She became the first woman among the original generation of the CBS reporting staff known as Murrow's Boys
.
As a woman, Breckinridge was generally assigned to apolitical stories relating to lifestyle and culture. However, she still found ways to venture into more serious issues. One of her most famous broadcasts involved Breckinridge describing the official Nazi newspaper Voelkische Beobachter:
The subtle implication that Germany was no longer free went over the heads of her German censors, and the comment was permitted to be broadcast.
Her career ended when she married diplomat Jefferson Patterson in June, 1940. Patterson was the son of Frank Jefferson Patterson, a founder of the National Cash Register Company. She willingly resigned from CBS, hoping to resume her original career in photojournalism, but was barred from publication by the United States State Department, who claimed that her activities would compromise her husband's work in Berlin. After marriage she served with her husband who had foreign service assignments in Berlin, Belgium, Egypt, the U.N. Special Committee on the Balkans, Greece, and in Uruguay, where he served as United States ambassador.
She served on the boards of several institutions including the Frontier Nursing Service
, the Textile Museum, National Symphony Orchestra, Meridian House International, International Student House and the Women’s Committees of the Smithsonian Institution and the Corcoran Gallery of Art
and the International Committee of the Folger Shakespeare Library
. She was a major financial supporter and donor of art and her photography work to these organizations and to the Library of Congress
, American News Women’s Club, Dayton Art Institute
, English Speaking Union, IONA Senior Services, Kennedy Center, St. Albans School
, Society of Woman Geographers, U.S. Capital Historical Society, University of Kentucky
, Vassar College
, WETA, several pro-choice organizations and many other organizations. In 1985 she created The MARPAT Foundation which continues to make grants within the greater Washington Metropolitan area
.
In 1974 she donated her family estate in York, Maine
to Bowdoin College
for use as the Breckinridge Public Affairs Center. In 1983 she donated her and her husband’s 550 acres (2.2 km²) farm in Maryland
to the state to become the Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum, which includes extensive Native American and colonial exhibits. The MARPAT Foundation she founded in 1985 still donates to Washington, D.C.
area museums, galleries, environmental and historical organizations, and cultural and social service groups.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
photojournalist, cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
, and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
. She used her middle name, Marvin, both professionally and personally.
Family history and early life
She was born Mary Marvin Breckinridge in 1905 in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, to John C. Breckinridge, of the prominent Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
Breckinridge family
Breckinridge family
The Breckinridge family is a family of politicians and public figures from the United States. The family has included six members of the United States House of Representatives, two United States Senators, a cabinet member, two Ambassadors, a Vice President of United States and an unsuccessful...
, and Isabella Goodrich Breckinridge, the daughter of B. F. Goodrich
Benjamin Goodrich
Benjamin Franklin Goodrich was an American industrialist in the rubber industry.Dr. Goodrich was born to Anson and Susan Goodrich in Ripley, New York. He was educated as a physician; he received his M.D. from Western Reserve College in Cleveland, Ohio. B...
. Her great-grandfather, John C. Breckinridge
John C. Breckinridge
John Cabell Breckinridge was an American lawyer and politician. He served as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from Kentucky and was the 14th Vice President of the United States , to date the youngest vice president in U.S...
, was Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
under James Buchanan
James Buchanan
James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
. Her godmother and cousin was Isabella Selmes Greenway, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
's first congresswoman.
While a student at Vassar
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
, she helped found the National Student Federation of America
National Student Federation of America
The National Student Federation of America or NSFA was an association of student government founded in 1925. It was the first national student government association to be formed in the United States....
, which was to make her acquaintance with Edward R. Murrow
Edward R. Murrow
Edward Roscoe Murrow, KBE was an American broadcast journalist. He first came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States and Canada.Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, and Alexander Kendrick...
.
In 1929 she became the first female pilot licensed in Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
.
Career
Marvin Breckinridge began her career making the acclaimed black and white silent film "The Forgotten FrontierThe Forgotten Frontier
The Forgotten Frontier is a documentary film about the Frontier Nursing Service, nurses on horseback, who traveled the back roads of the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States...
", in 1930, which tells the story of the Frontier Nursing Service
Frontier Nursing Service
The Frontier Nursing Service provides healthcare services to rural, underserved populations and educates nurse-midwives.The Service maintains six rural healthcare clinics in eastern Kentucky, the Mary Breckinridge Hospital, the Mary Breckinridge Home Health Agency, the Frontier School of Midwifery...
, a nurse and midwifery health service founded by her cousin, Mary Breckinridge
Mary Breckinridge
Mary Breckinridge was an American nurse-midwife and the founder of the Frontier Nursing Service. She also was known as Mary Carson Breckinridge.She started family care centers in the Appalachian mountains...
, in the Appalachian mountains
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
of Kentucky. She traveled extensively and published photographs from her world travels in magazines such as Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
, National Geographic, Look magazine
Look (American magazine)
Look was a bi-weekly, general-interest magazine published in Des Moines, Iowa from 1937 to 1971, with more of an emphasis on photographs than articles...
, Life magazine, Town and Country
Town & Country (magazine)
Town & Country, formerly the Home Journal and The National Press, is a monthly American lifestyle magazine. It is the oldest continually published general interest magazine in the United States.-Early history:...
, and Harper's Bazaar
Harper's Bazaar
Harper’s Bazaar is an American fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harper’s Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the style resource for “women who are the first to buy the best, from casual to couture.”...
, especially a 1932 Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
trip from Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
to Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
she was hired by Edward R. Murrow as the first female news broadcaster for the CBS Radio Network
CBS Radio Network
The CBS Radio Network provides news, sports and other programming to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by CBS Corporation, and operated by CBS Radio ....
. She reported 50 times, from 7 European countries, including reports from Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. She became the first woman among the original generation of the CBS reporting staff known as Murrow's Boys
Murrow's Boys
Murrow’s Boys, or “The Murrow Boys,” were the CBS broadcast journalists most closely associated with Edward R. Murrow during his years at the network, most notably the years before and during World War II....
.
As a woman, Breckinridge was generally assigned to apolitical stories relating to lifestyle and culture. However, she still found ways to venture into more serious issues. One of her most famous broadcasts involved Breckinridge describing the official Nazi newspaper Voelkische Beobachter:
The subtle implication that Germany was no longer free went over the heads of her German censors, and the comment was permitted to be broadcast.
Her career ended when she married diplomat Jefferson Patterson in June, 1940. Patterson was the son of Frank Jefferson Patterson, a founder of the National Cash Register Company. She willingly resigned from CBS, hoping to resume her original career in photojournalism, but was barred from publication by the United States State Department, who claimed that her activities would compromise her husband's work in Berlin. After marriage she served with her husband who had foreign service assignments in Berlin, Belgium, Egypt, the U.N. Special Committee on the Balkans, Greece, and in Uruguay, where he served as United States ambassador.
Philanthropy
After her husband’s death in 1977, she devoted her energies to philanthropy.She served on the boards of several institutions including the Frontier Nursing Service
Frontier Nursing Service
The Frontier Nursing Service provides healthcare services to rural, underserved populations and educates nurse-midwives.The Service maintains six rural healthcare clinics in eastern Kentucky, the Mary Breckinridge Hospital, the Mary Breckinridge Home Health Agency, the Frontier School of Midwifery...
, the Textile Museum, National Symphony Orchestra, Meridian House International, International Student House and the Women’s Committees of the Smithsonian Institution and the Corcoran Gallery of Art
Corcoran Gallery of Art
The Corcoran Gallery of Art is the largest privately supported cultural institution in Washington, DC. The museum's main focus is American art. The permanent collection includes works by Rembrandt, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Thomas Gainsborough, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Pablo...
and the International Committee of the Folger Shakespeare Library
Folger Shakespeare Library
The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare materials from the early modern period...
. She was a major financial supporter and donor of art and her photography work to these organizations and to the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
, American News Women’s Club, Dayton Art Institute
Dayton Art Institute
The Dayton Art Institute is a museum of fine arts in Dayton, Ohio, USA. The Dayton Art Institute was rated one of the top 10 best art museums in the United States for kids. The museum also ranks in the top 3% of all art museums in North America in 3 of 4 factors...
, English Speaking Union, IONA Senior Services, Kennedy Center, St. Albans School
St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.)
St. Albans School is an independent college preparatory school for boys in grades 4–12, located in Washington, D.C. The school is named after Saint Alban, traditionally regarded as the first British martyr. Within the St...
, Society of Woman Geographers, U.S. Capital Historical Society, University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
, Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
, WETA, several pro-choice organizations and many other organizations. In 1985 she created The MARPAT Foundation which continues to make grants within the greater Washington Metropolitan area
Washington Metropolitan Area
The Washington Metropolitan Area is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The area includes all of the federal district and parts of the U.S...
.
In 1974 she donated her family estate in York, Maine
York, Maine
York is a town in York County, Maine, United States at the southwest corner of the state. The population in the 2000 census was 12,854. Situated beside the Atlantic Ocean on the Gulf of Maine, York is a well-known summer resort. It is home to three 18-hole golf clubs, three sandy beaches, and...
to Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College , founded in 1794, is an elite private liberal arts college located in the coastal Maine town of Brunswick, Maine. As of 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranks Bowdoin 6th among liberal arts colleges in the United States. At times, it was ranked as high as 4th in the country. It is...
for use as the Breckinridge Public Affairs Center. In 1983 she donated her and her husband’s 550 acres (2.2 km²) farm in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
to the state to become the Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum, which includes extensive Native American and colonial exhibits. The MARPAT Foundation she founded in 1985 still donates to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
area museums, galleries, environmental and historical organizations, and cultural and social service groups.