Joan Patterson

Title: Joan Patterson
LC Subject: Universities and colleges--Faculty Portraits Home economics
Creator: Hise Studio
Description: Joan Patterson was a Professor of Clothing, Textiles, and Related Arts from 1940 to 1956. She was born in 1907 in Baker, Oregon. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Interior Design and Architecture from the University of Oregon in 1931, and later went on to obtain her graduate degree from UO in art appreciation and sociology in 1934. For her professional degree, her thesis discussed three interior design problems: oriental library, aviation waiting room, and one complete home. Before applying to be a professor, she was an extension agent in home furnishings at OSC, and previously worked as an instructor and research assistant at the University of Oregon. She also had been employed as an assistant decorator at the Meier and Frank Company in Portland, Oregon. She was said to have been “under observation” by OSC’s home economics department for a long time, which considered her very favorable for the home management specialist position. She published at least 24 articles in her field, including those on such subjects as “Color and its use in the home,” “Curtaining the home,” and “Home-made rugs--how to design and make them.” She served as the extension specialist in home furnishing for four years and was a member of the faculty for 29 years. She was an instructor until 1937, assistant professor in 1938, associate professor in 1940, and full professor in 1951. She served as acting head of the Clothing, Textiles and Related Arts Department in 1961-62. In 1949, she was appointed to Associate Textile Specialist in the Experiment Station in the Department of Home Economics, at an annual salary of $4,578 for ten months of service. She worked in experiment station research with the Oregon Flax and Linen Board, wrote bulletins for the extension service and agricultural experiment station, and was an advisor for at least thirteen master's theses. As an extension agent, she aided community members in furnishing their homes and public buildings, and made an important cultural contribution with her design of woven fabrics. She took sabbatical leave twice in her career at OSC. The first was from January to September of 1948 to do advanced study in Cranbrook, Michigan, for which she received a half-salary. When her sabbatical ran out, she took a leave of absence in 1949-50 in order to continue her research. She studied the “utilisation of flax yarn, principally from Oregon fiber, in upholstery and drapery fabrics.” This project held the promise of a “new market outlet” for Oregon flax. The Flax and Linen Board understood the research conducted by Patterson to be of “fundamental importance…to the Oregon flax industry.” Thus, they awarded her $500 for signing a memorandum of understanding between herself and the Flax and Linen Board, $50,000 upon submission of a report to the Board, and $1000 to reimburse her for purchase of materials and services rendered. She took another sabbatical in 1957 from March to June, when she visited craft centers and industry centers of textile design for inspiration in teaching and information, visited colleges and universities to study teaching, and designing textiles she normally did not have the time to do. In 1953, she was named one of five Oregon “Women of Achievement” for her contribution to “industrial development in Oregon.” An article was written about her recognition in the Gazette-Times. She was a member of Delta Delta Delta Sorority and the Episcopal Church.
Work Type: photographic prints photographs black-and-white photographs
Date: 1947
Identifier: P092:0440
Rights: In Copyright
Local Collection Name: President's Office Photographs, 1923-1998 (P 092)
Type: Image
Format: image/tiff
Set: OSU Special Collections & Archives Research Center Historical Images of Oregon State University
Primary Set: OSU Special Collections & Archives Research Center
Institution: Oregon State University