Susanna Louise Patteson
Susanna Louise Patteson (1853–1922) was an American stenographer, educator, and author who wrote Pussy Meow: the autobiography of a cat.[1] She also wrote the children's book Letters from Pussycatville,[2] How to Have Bird Neighbors[3] and When I was a Girl in Switzerland.[4][5] Her photographs were used to illustrate her books on cats and birds. She helped organize a group to aid vagrant cats.[6]
Career
Susanna Louise Patteson worked as a stenographer in Cleveland, Ohio.[7] She wrote a book on stenography, Patteson's Pitmanic Phonography, and advocated for higher status and educational opportunities for women's professions of the time such as nursemaids. She was a local council candidate for the prohibition ticket. She was Swiss.[4] The Cleveland Plain Dealer profiled her and included a sketch of her on January 19, 1896.[8][9]
In the 1870s, she became a seasonal secretary for John D. Rockefeller when he resided at his summer estate in Forest Hill, Ohio.[10]
In 1909, Louise lived in a house on land owned by Ambrose M. McGregor, the president of Standard Oil, which was founded by Rockefeller.[11] She spent at least ten summers at what she called Waldheim.[12]
Impact
After her death in 1922, her friends and acquaintances established the Patteson Bird Sanctuary in the Shaker Wild Flower garden.[13]
They commissioned a bronze sculpture by noted Cleveland artist Frank Jirouch, and installed it in the Bird Sanctuary in 1929.[14]
Books
- Letters from Pussycatville (1903)[15]
- Patteson's Pitmanic Phonography (1895)[8][16]
- How to Have Bird Neighbors George W. Jacobs & Co. Philadelphia (1918)[17]
- Pussy Meow; The autobiography of a cat (1901)[1]
- Kitty Kat Kimmie, A cat's tale (1909)[18]
- When I Was a Girl in Switzerland (1921)[5]
Articles
- "Bird Architecture"[19]
References
- 1 2 "Pussy Meow: The autobiography of a cat, | Library of Congress". Library of Congress.
- ↑ Patteson, Susanna Louise (December 5, 1903). "Letters from Pussycatville: By S. Louise Patteson ... Illustrations from Photographs by the Author". G. W. Jacobs & Company – via Google Books.
- ↑ Patteson, S. Louise (Susanna Louise) (June 7, 2021). How To Have Bird Neighbors – via Project Gutenberg.
- 1 2 "Passenger Search". The Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island. Retrieved March 16, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - 1 2 Patteson, S. Louise (1921). "When I was a Girl in Switzerland". Library of Congress. Retrieved March 16, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Champions for the cats". The Cleveland Leader. 20 March 1904. p. 8.
- ↑ Education, United States Bureau of (December 5, 1893). "Circular of Information of the Bureau of Education, for ..." U.S. Government Printing Office – via Google Books.
- 1 2 "New Professions For Women". The Plain Dealer. January 19, 1896. p. 24 – via newspapers.com.
- ↑ "The Cleveland Directory Co.'s Cleveland (Cuyahoga County, Ohio) City Directory". Cleveland Directory Company. December 5, 1906 – via Google Books.
- ↑ Patteson, S. Louise (February 12, 1922). ""At Home with the Seventies"". Plain Dealer. pp. 74–75. Retrieved March 16, 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Goulder, Grace (March 19, 1961). "The Bird (and Cat) Lady". Plain Dealer. pp. 232–234. Retrieved March 16, 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Patteson, S. Louise (August 29, 1909). "A Bungalow for $100". Plain Dealer. p. 46. Retrieved March 16, 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ White, Clarice F. (March 16, 1924). "Patteson Bird Sanctuary to be Placed in Shaker Wild Flower Preserve". Plain Dealer. p. 53. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Bird Club to Erect Statue". Plain Dealer. April 25, 1929. p. 9. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Library (R.I.), Providence Public (December 5, 1903). "Quarterly Bulletin of the Providence Public Library". Snow & Farnham – via Google Books.
- ↑ "The Annual American Catalogue". Publishers' Weekly. December 5, 1895 – via Google Books.
- ↑ Patteson, Susanna Louise (December 5, 1917). "How to Have Bird Neighbors". D.C. Heath – via Google Books.
- ↑ "Catalogue of Copyright Entries-Books-Volume 6, Issue 2". 1909. p. 1143. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "The School Arts Magazine". School Arts Publishing Company. December 5, 1914 – via Google Books.