Mary Pattillo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mary Pattillo
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Mary Pattillo speaks in 2008
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| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | Columbia University (BA) University of Chicago (PhD) |
| Occupation | Sociologist |
| Employer | Northwestern University |
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Notable work
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Black Picket Fences Black on the Block |
| Title | Harold Washington Professor of Sociology; Chair of the Department of Black Studies |
Mary Pattillo is an American professor who studies African American communities. She teaches at Northwestern University. She is a professor of Sociology and leads the Department of Black Studies. She helps students learn about African American studies. She also works with Northwestern's Institute for Policy Research.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Mary Pattillo was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her parents were originally from Louisiana. She went to Columbia University for her first degree. There, she studied cities and how people live in them (urban studies) and sociology. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1991. Later, she earned her Master of Arts degree in 1994. She then received her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago in 1997.
How Her Background Shaped Her Work
Professor Pattillo's parents grew up in Louisiana when there was segregation. This meant Black and white people were kept separate by law. For example, her father could not attend Louisiana State University because he was Black. The university paid for him to go to medical school out of state instead.
When Mary Pattillo was in high school, things had changed. After the Civil Rights Movement, she was part of a program. This program used buses to help integrate schools in Milwaukee. This showed how much progress had been made. However, she also saw that people still faced unfair housing rules. There were also protests against police unfairness. These things made her wonder how much had really changed. These questions became a big part of what she studies.
Her Career and Research
Studying Communities
Professor Pattillo is an ethnographer. This means she studies people and cultures by living among them. Her research focuses on the Black middle class. She also looks at how race and public rules affect people. She studies urban communities, especially in Chicago.
Some of her other interests include:
- Race and different groups in the United States.
- How different social classes are formed.
- Choices people make about schools.
- The criminal justice system.
- Ways to study people's lives (qualitative methods).
- African American studies.
Her own experiences growing up in a middle-class Black family helped shape her research. She lived in a Black community in Milwaukee. She then moved from a segregated elementary school. She was bused to a wealthy white suburban high school. These experiences made her interested in sociology. They also gave her many questions to answer in her studies. Milwaukee and Chicago are both in the Midwest. They have large, diverse African American communities. They are also very segregated. Professor Pattillo often compares these two cities in her writings.
Teaching Students
Professor Pattillo teaches many courses. These include classes on African American Studies and Sociology. She teaches about cities, how to study people, and urban life. She also teaches about the social meaning of race. Other topics include housing, community, and public policy. She helps students research Black communities. She also teaches about urban poverty and race in politics and society.
Helping Her Community
Professor Pattillo is very involved in her community. She helped start Urban Prep Academies. This is a group of charter high schools for boys in Chicago. Most of the students are Black. She is currently the Vice-Chair of their board. She also serves on the board of The Chicago Community Trust's African American Legacy Initiative. She is also on the Advisory Committee for the National Public Housing Museum.
Awards and Recognitions
Professor Pattillo has received many awards for her work. These awards recognize her important contributions to sociology and African American studies.
Some of her notable honors include:
- Being named a Fellow at the Straus Institute for the Advanced Study of Law and Justice at New York University School of Law.
- Receiving the Faculty Appreciation Award from Northwestern University's Black Student Alliance in 2009.
- Winning the Robert Park Best Book Award for her book Black on the Block in 2007. This award is from the Community and Urban Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association.
- Her book Black on the Block was named one of the "Favorite Books of 2007" by the Chicago Tribune.
- Receiving the Columbia College Alumna Achievement Award in 2004.
- Being named the Northwestern University Arthur Andersen Research and Teaching Professor in 2004.
- Winning the Oliver Cromwell Cox Best Book Award for Black Picket Fences in 2000. This award is from the Racial and Ethnic Minorities Section of the American Sociological Association.
- Receiving a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in 1997.
