African-American educational leader Frederick Douglass Patterson was born on October 10, 1901, in Washington, D.C. The youngest of five children, Patterson was named after abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Both of Patterson's parents died of tuberculosis when he was still a toddler, and at just 2 years old, he was sent to live with a friend of the family. When Patterson was 7, his older sister Bessie became his legal guardian.
Growing up, Patterson studied in the primary school and high school programs at Sam Houston College and Prairie View College in Texas. Following his high school graduation, Patterson earned a PhD in veterinary medicine at Iowa State College in 1927. He remained at Iowa State until 1927, at which time he was awarded his master's degree in science. Patterson received another PhD, from Cornell University, in 1932.