Dr. MaryLouise Patterson Oral History Interview: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

An oral history interview and conversation with pediatrician Dr. MaryLouise Patterson, M. D. It consists of three versions of a digital video recording, two camera card files (2025.12.2.1.1 and 2025.12.2.1.2, .mxf files) and one edited file (2025.12.2.1.3, .mov file).

Dr. MaryLouise Patterson was interviewed by University of Maryland student Rebekah Otto on May 25, 2023, as part of the Social Justice Conversations Oral History Project. The interview took place at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. At the time of the interview, Dr. Patterson was 80 years old.

This oral history interview with Dr. MaryLouise Patterson consists of two distinct sections: an “interview” section (part 1) and a “conversation” section (part 2, 01:20:28). In part 1, Dr. Patterson talks extensively about her parents, Louise A. Thompson Patterson, and William “Pat” Lorenzo Patterson. She describes her parent’s involvement on the Scottsboro case through the International Labor Defense, her father’s work on the "We Charge Genocide" petition, and her parents’ other activist efforts. Dr. Patterson reflects on her time in the Soviet Union as a student at Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University of Russia and discusses her work as a pediatrician and medical issues impacting the Black community today, including Black maternal mortality rates. She also discusses her book, "Letters From Langston: From the Harlem Renaissance to the Red Scare and Beyond." In part 2, Dr. Patterson recounts her recent visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. She discusses education and climates of violence. Rebekah Otto and Dr. Patterson reflect on the meaning of liberation and the idea of reparations. As the interview closes Dr. Patterson gives her advice for the next generation, and Otto shares why she is interested in oral histories.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: May 25, 2023
• Created by: National Museum of African American History and Culture, American, founded 2003
• Recorded by: Trudy Hutcherson, American
• Recorded by: Thomas Mobley
• Edited by: Candace Dane Chambers, American
• Interviewed by: Rebekah Simcha Otto
• Interviewed by: Dr. MaryLouise Patterson, American, born 1943
• Subject of: Louise Thompson Patterson, American, 1901 - 1999
• Subject of: William L. Patterson, American, 1891 - 1980
• Type: video recordings
• Type: oral histories
• Type: digital media - born digital
• Medium: digital
• Dimensions: Duration (2025.12.2.1.3, edited): 1 hr., 57 min., 4 sec.
• Dimensions: File size: 173 GB
• Place filmed: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
• Place captured: Moscow, Russia, North and Central America
• Place captured: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Civil Rights
• Topic: Communities
• Topic: COVID-19
• Topic: Education
• Topic: Families
• Topic: Gender
• Object number: 2025.12.2.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.