Audrey "Mickey" Patterson-Tyler

Sport: Track and Field

Induction Year: 2000

By Marty Mule’
New Orleans Times-Picayune

Hal Bateman reflected for a moment before trying to put Audrey “Mickey” Patterson-Tyler in perspective.

“She was a true pioneer in the sport,” said Bateman, historian of USA Track & Field, “but Mickey was a lot more than that. She was a major contributor to the sport long after she finished running.”

The athlete was more than noteworthy. Patterson was the first African-American woman to win an Olympic medal. Later she founded and coached her own team, “Mickey’s Missiles,” in San Diego, which became a factor in California track, producing two Olympic sprinters, Dennis Mitchell and Jackie Thompson.

“She accomplished a great deal as an athlete,” Bateman said. “Then Mickey offered what she learned and earned to later generations.”The woman remembered as Audrey “Mickey” Patterson, a New Orleans native, will be inducted posthumously into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.

“Really, Mickey’s year was 1948,” Bateman said. “That year, she was a dominant track figure.”Indeed she was, although track turned out to be a lower barrier to hurdle than life.

On Aug. 6, 1948, Patterson, amidst a flourish of flags and anthems, stood on the victory platform in London, soaking in her moment of short-lived glory.

That day, she won the bronze medal in the 200 meters.

“We lived the event, and the events of that day, many, many times through the years,” said Patterson’s son, Gerald Hunter. “She loved thinking about it.” Husband Ron Tyler echoed the sentiment, saying, “She was very proud of her accomplishments.”Others made special note, too.

When Patterson died in 1996 at 69, Time magazine mentioned her landmark performance.

But 52 years ago, not everybody was impressed. Patterson, who changed her name to Patterson-Tyler after her marriage, was recognized from the Atlantic Coast to the Pacific Coast as a world- class athlete in the 1940s – but not overly acknowledged on her native Gulf Coast.

After she won the Olympic bronze, the New Orleans media treated the feat unevenly, and the city followed suit. The Times-Picayune didn’t identify her hometown, instead saying she was from Nashville, Tenn., where she was attending Tennessee State University.

The afternoon paper – The States – did make the New Orleans connection, and another, The Item, ran two stories on her. The reaction of city was a little different, and it hurt.

Patterson said years later the best New Orleans could do to recognize her after she returned home was to send a certificate to a sparsely attended testimonial, which was put on by friends.

“Mayor (deLesseps S.) Morrison sent a telegram saying I was a credit to my race, and that was the extent of it,” she said in 1976.

“Morrison was known as a fair man, but he couldn’t find the time to come,” she said. “I felt I was getting the cold shoulder from New Orleans. A parade was suggested downtown, but it didn’t come off, either.

“I felt I’d done something for the city, and it wasn’t appreciated. I was bitterly disappointed.”Patterson was unbeaten in high school. After her senior year, Patterson chose to attend Wiley College in Marshall, Texas.

Within a year, the 5-foot-7, 113-pounder became a national sprint champion. In her first three meets as a freshman, Mickey won three 100-meter races and three 200-meter runs, which propelled her into the women’s National AAU meet. She again was victorious in the junior 200 meters.

At Tennessee State, Wiley completed another unbeaten season and broke the American and meet indoor records in the 200-yard race with a time of 26.4 seconds in the National AAU Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Patterson seemed a lock to secure an Olympic berth, but she almost muffed her chance. The morning of the qualifying heats, she burned her leg with an iron but still won the 200 meters. Then she retired to the women’s dressing room, where she accidentally was locked in and unable to report for the finals. Her coach located his weeping star just in time.

Undaunted by the narrow escape, Mickey lined up and ran to victory in 25.3. Later, she finished a step behind Mabel Walker in the 100, the first time Mickey finished as low as second place since entering high school, but she earned her Olympic berth.

Patterson finished a close third in the 100-meter dash semifinals in the London Olympics, eliminating her from the event, but she won the fifth heat in the 200 to reach the semis, then ran second and entered the final. Francina Blankers-Koen of The Netherlands won the final in 24.4, Great Britain’s Audrey Williamson finished in 25.1, and Mickey and Australia’s Shirley Strickland came in at 25.2, although it was determined Patterson finished ahead of Strickland.

The glory faded quickly when the city seemed almost embarrassed by the feat.

Almost as if to save itself from more of the same, the municipality denied Mickey use of City Park Stadium, where she wanted to train for the 1950 South American Olympics. Patterson said she was told the park was being used constantly, day and night, and she would have to train elsewhere.

A black newspaperman placed an ad asking for assistance and coach Jim McCafferty of Loyola University answered it.

“He allowed me to use the university’s track and offered to help if he could,” Patterson said. “It was a fine gesture.”