Starting Block
Jean Patton Latimer, a native of Nashville, Tennessee, started her race with her parents Cornetta Dickinson Ford and Shelby Patton along with her brother Robert H. Edwards on February 18, 1931. Jean was educated at Nashville Public Schools at Meigs School, Washington Junior High School, and Pearl High School. She represented Pearl High as a member of the Girls’ Basketball Team. Her accomplishments in basketball and her victory in a school-sponsored “May Day Race” signified the beginning of her successful journey. Her performance in this race motivated her teachers to support her application to Tennessee State University.
