Marvin breckenridge patterson biography for kids

American photographer and philanthropist

Mary Marvin Breckinridge Patterson (October 2, 1905 – December 11, 2002), was an American photojournalist, cinematographer, and philanthropist.

She used her middle name, Marvin, both professionally and personally to distinguish herself from her cousin Mary Breckinridge (founder of the Frontier Nursing Service) and to avoid the prejudice against women that was prevalent at the time.

Family and marriage

Mary Marvin Breckinridge was born on October 2, 1905, in New York City, to John C. Breckinridge, of the prominent KentuckyBreckinridge family, and Isabella Goodrich Breckinridge, daughter of B.

F. Goodrich. Her great-grandfather, John C. Breckinridge, was Vice President of the United States under James Buchanan, a Confederate general and Confederate Secretary of War. Her godmother and cousin was Isabella Selmes Greenway, Arizona's first Congresswoman.

While broadcasting for the CBS