One of the first female graduates of North Carolina State University (1927). Patterson earned a degree from Meredith College simultaneously (1927). She had petitioned the faculty council in the fall of 1926 for permission to pursue a degree in vocational education. She taught school for 35 years. Other female students receiving degrees in 1927 were Jane S. McKimmon and Mary E. Yarbrough.
From the description of Charlotte Ruth Nelson Patterson papers, 1927-1928, n.d. [manuscript] (North Carolina State University). WorldCat record id: 475752471