For the greater part of his 87 years, Graham Patterson lived vigorously in and for the advertising business. Once affectionately described as a "pint-sized powerhouse," he achieved a notable record in publishing and advertising, as well as the public-service arena.
Patterson became the advertising manager of the Federal Electric Company in Chicago, subsequently sold space for Circle Magazine and for Suburban Life and was president of the Union Electrotype Company. In 1918 he was made president and publisher of The Christian Herald and in 1935 came to Philadelphia to head the Farm Journal, the crowning phase of his professional career. Under his leadership it became the largest agricultural magazine in the world.
Active always in advertising industry affairs, Patterson served as president of the Philadelphia’s Poor Richard Club, strongly supported the Advertising Council and was a founding member of the Magazine Publishers Association. He also enriched the Advertising Federation of America through his significant involvement and service as its chairman from 1950 to 1951.
Patterson was also engaged in numerous charitable, religious and patriotic endeavors. He headed Woodrow Wilson’s drive to raise funds for famine relief in China in 1918, was a founder and director of the Freedoms Foundation and was president of the United Negro College Fund and of New York’s famous Bowery Mission.