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The Pratt Institute is a specialized, private college in New York City with campuses in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Pratt is one of the leading art schools in the United States and offers programs in art, architecture, fashion design, design, creative writing, library science, and other areas.

Charles Pratt (1830-1891) was an early pioneer of the natural oil industry in the United States. He was founder of Astral Oil Works in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, New York. He joined with his protégé Henry H. Rogers to form Charles Pratt and Company in 1867. Both companies became part of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil in 1874.

Pratt is credited with recognizing the growing need for trained industrial workers in a changing economy. In 1886, he founded and endowed the Pratt Institute, which opened in Brooklyn in 1887.

Traditionally an innovator in education, the Fashion Design department evolved out of a unique program started in 1888 when Pratt's Women's Department offered courses in fashion design and needle craft. This made Pratt the first college to offer a degree in fashion design in the United States. In 1971, the fashion program moved to the School of Art and Design, a change that has enabled the departments to offer interdisciplinary studies with other creative design areas.

History of Pratt

On October 17, 1887, twelve young people climbed the stairs of the new "Main" building and began to fulfill the dream of Charles Pratt as the first students at Pratt Institute.

Charles Pratt, one of eleven children, was born the son of a Massachusetts carpenter in 1830. He managed to scrape a few dollars together and spend three winters as a student at Wesleyan Academy, and is said to have lived on a dollar a week at times. In Boston, he joined a company specializing in paints and whale oil products. When he came to New York, he worked for a similar company and expanded the interest to Astral Oil. When the company split, Charles Pratt owned the oil business and turned it into the most successful such company in Brooklyn, eventually merging with Standard Oil.

Charles Pratt's fortunes increased and he became a leading figure in Brooklyn, serving his community and his profession. A philanthropist and visionary, he supported many of Brooklyn's major institutions including the Adelphi Academy and the building of Emmanuel Baptist Church.

He always regretted, however, his own limited education and dreamed of founding an institution where pupils could learn trades through the skillful use of their hands. This dream was realized when Pratt Institute opened its doors over 100 years ago. Only four years after the opening, Charles Pratt died, leaving the job of guiding the Institute through its early years to his sons, primarily Charles Pratt, Jr.

The energy, foresight, money and spirit Charles Pratt gave to his dream remains even today. Here careers are molded, and goals, like those of Charles Pratt, are encouraged. Inscribed on the seal of the Institute is the motto:

Be True To Your Work And Your Work Will Be True To You

Notable Alumni and Former Students

Trivia

The school had a radio station in the mid 1980s which broadcast on a limited-range signal. After students modified the broadcast tower, the FCC stepped in and shut it down. The station later re-emerged in 2001 as an internet-only station and continues to broadcast from http://www.prattradio.com.

The library at Pratt Institute, opened in 1888 to serve not only students but the general public as well, was one of the first public libraries to be opened in the United States. The architect on the building was William Tubby of Brooklyn. The decoration in the building was done by the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company.

Several scenes of the 1978 best-selling pornographic movie Debbie Does Dallas were shot in the Pratt Institute library without the administration's approval.

Segments of the 1990 movie Jacob's Ladder were filmed at Pratt, as well as scenes for the 2006 film The Good Shepherd, directed by Robert DeNiro. Some episodes of Special Victims Unit have been filmed on campus.

Pratt has a closed-circuit television station located on channel 66. The channel until recently was home to a VCR screen.

mtvU occasionally films their television commercials on the Pratt campus.

Pratt's Brooklyn campus is home to a number of cats which are known as the 'Pratt Cats'.

The school's colors are black and gold.

The school depicted in the film Art School Confidential is loosely based on the experiences of former Pratt student and comic book artist Daniel Clowes.

The school has a team mascot for its sports teams called the Cannoneer, as in the person who shoots a cannon. This relates to the former military outpost on the southern end of the campus which looked over what was the irish ghetto of Bed-Stuy.

The oldest continually functioning elevator in all of Brooklyn, installed in 1910, was located at Pratt's Main Building, until it was upgraded in October, 2004.

References

External links

Art schools in the United States | New York City culture | Universities and colleges in New York City

普瑞特藝術學院

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Pratt Institute".

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