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| Dr. Helen Patton (© Susan Roberts) |
Born in 1914 and raised on the family farm in Macon County’s
Patton Valley, Helen Frances Patton, the only sister to six
brothers, grew to become an avid reader, writer, and educator.
Education
The Patton family’s emphasis on education and discovery
led young Helen to receive her two-year diploma at Western
Carolina in 1933. At Western the professors inspired their
student greatly, encouraging her to cultivate an interest
in her heritage.
After teaching in public schools and obtaining her bachelor’s
degree in art at George Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee,
Dr. Patton returned to Western to teach in 1939. She attended
the University of Chicago in summer to earn master’s
degrees in art education and art history.
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| Mamie Patton (center) with her children
(clockwise from front right): Andy, Lewis, Mack, Jim,
Helen, Charles Robert, and George. (Courtesy of Helen
Patton) |
Over the next four decades, Dr. Patton’s teaching career
continued at colleges and universities in the Midwest. In
1965 she received her doctoral degree in art education from
the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Discovery
A seasoned world traveler who has visited every continent,
Dr. Patton’s first trip of note was in 1933 when she
drove from North Carolina to the Chicago World’s Fair
with a friend. She raised money to take the trip by “working
in the kitchen with Grandmother Patton, wringing chicken necks
and other things.”
Heritage
The Patton family lost their farm during the Depression
years, but as Dr. Patton's retirement approached, her love
of homeland brought her back to Macon County in 1981. She
purchased ten acres in Patton Valley that were part of a tract
settled in 1820 by her great-great-grandfather, George Patton,
for whom the valley is named.
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| The Patton family lost their farm during the Depression
years. (Courtesy of Helen Patton) |
In tribute to her heritage, Dr. Patton has written a number
of books on family members and the Patton Valley culture.
Among these are The House: A Remembrance Of My Grandmother:
Sarah Ann Phillips Patton; Mamie,
A Remembrance: Mamie Dickey Slagle Patton; and Windows:
A Special Valley and Some of its People.
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