From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)
Patterson, Charles Lee Morris
(born: April 30, 1921 - died: July 26, 1992)In 1949, Charles Lee Morris Patterson, a first baseman from Paducah, KY, was the first African American to be signed to the Twin-States Amateur Baseball League. It was thought to be the first time an African American had been signed by a league town south of the Mason Dixon. Patterson was on the team in Burna, KY. The Twin-States was a minor league that represented 20 communities in western Kentucky and southern Illinois. Edmund Beasley was president of the league in 1949.
Charles L. M. Patterson was born in Tennessee and grew up in Paducah, KY. He was a 1943 graduate of Lincoln High School. He was living with his son when he died in Montgomery, AL, and he is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Paducah. Charles L. M. Patterson was the son of William Henry Patterson and Jennie Teague Patterson, both from Tennessee.
Source: "Negro signed by team in Twin-States loop." The Park City Daily News, 19 June 1949, p.9; "Burna signs Negro player for Twin-States League action." The Paducah Sun-Democrat, 19 June 1949, p.12; see Charles Lee Patterson in "Deaths." The Paducah Sun, 30 July 1992, p.9; see Charles Leemorris Patterson's WWII Draft Card in Ancestry.com and other documents for Charles Lee Patterson; see Charles Lee Patterson at Find A Grave.