Guide to the Richard Pratt Collection, 1820-2005 AIS.1998.03
Arrangement
Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
Richard Pratt Collection
Creator
Pratt, Richard H.
Collection Number
AIS.1998.03
Extent
40.95 Linear Feet(78 boxes)
Date
1920-2005
Date
1920-1998
Abstract
This collection contains the professional, personal, and family materials of Richard H. Pratt, Professor Emeritus, Department of Physics, University of Pittsburgh. Richard Pratt is a major contributor to the field of atomic physics as well as an active environmentalist and experienced world traveler. This collection is comprised mainly of both professional and personal correspondence, 1925-2005, but also includes articles, notes, manuscripts, meeting minutes, and publications from his professional life; and photographs of his family. Richard Pratt's materials include the years - 1940-2005. The Pratt family materials include the years - 1820-1997.
Language
English
.
Author
Dan Horvath. Revisions occurred to the finding aid as a part of the encoding process in March 2005.
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System Archives & Special Collections Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections Business Number: 412-648-3232 (Thomas) | 412-648-8190 (Hillman) Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Biography
Richard Pratt, Professor Emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh, is a well known contributor and leader in the field of high energy atomic physics, as well as being an active environmentalist and experienced world traveler. He is also known for his assistance in the defection of many physicists from communist eastern bloc countries including Romania in the 1970s. Pratt was also involved in bringing Semester at Sea, a teaching voyage that circumnavigates the globe during a semester, to the University of Pittsburgh as well as being one of the first chairs of the local Sierra Club chapter.
Richard Houghton Pratt was born on May 5, 1934 in New York City. At the age of four he moved to Mount Pleasant, Michigan, attended elementary school where he was two years younger than his classmates, having started kindergarten early and taking grades 3-4 in one year and attended Mount Pleasant High School, 1946-50, where he was Valedictorian. In the fall of 1950, Richard Pratt went to the University of Chicago on a tuition scholarship, having placed out of most college courses Pratt graduated in just two years at age eighteen. Following graduation Pratt was a National Science Foundation Fellow for one year before receiving his masters of science in 1955, and Ph.D. in 1959, both from the University of Chicago. While at the University of Chicago he took the last quantum mechanics course taught by Enrico Fermi
During Pratt's education at the University of Chicago he met his wife, Ann. Elizabeth Ann Glass, was born January 2, 1933 in Orange, New Jersey. She was a math-pre-med major at Oberlin College and came to the University of Chicago for graduate school in microbiology in 1954. The Pratts were married in Chicago on November 1, 1958. A year later, after finishing his Ph.D., Richard accepted a post-doc position at Stanford University. Richard worked at Stanford as a research associate (1959-1961) and as an assistant professor (1961-1964) and Ann completed her Ph.D.. While teaching at Stanford he began a long relationship as a consultant for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory at the University of California. In 1964 the Pratts moved to Pittsburgh where Richard accepted a job as associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh and Ann worked as an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh. She later had a research position at Carnegie Mellon University where she became a research scientist. Richard became a full professor in 1969 and a professor emeritus after his retirement in 1999. Richard and Ann have four children: Jonathan, Kathryn, Caroline and Paul.
While working in atomic physics at the University of Pittsburgh, Richard Pratt ran the high energy theory group which was supported at various times by the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. He worked primarily in relativistic electron-photon radiation interaction processes in the atomic field creating main world codes. Pratt was in charge of graduate admissions for the department as well as the graduate research committee. The Physics Department eventually expanded into high energy experiment, astrophysics, and condensed matter. Richard Pratt also helped organize the International Radiation Physics Society (IRPS), in 1985, serving as secretary and president. Pratt's other university activities included the University Senate where he was a member and chair of the Senate Budget Policies Committee, and chair of the Educational Policies Committee which brought Semester at Sea to the University of Pittsburgh. Semester at Sea is a study abroad opportunity for undergraduate students to travel the globe on a cruise ship while taking university courses for credit. Pratt has been involved with Semester at Sea from the beginning of its University of Pittsburgh Program including being Academic Dean in fall 1984 and Administrative Dean in 1990, as well as teaching and being a member of the advisory board.
Richard has been involved in many environmental organizations, one of which is the Sierra Club. Richard and Ann Pratt joined the Sierra Club in 1965, shortly after moving to Pittsburgh. In 1970 Richard was invited to a meeting to organize a group in Pittsburgh. He served as the first vice-chair of the Allegheny Group eventually becoming its chair, 1974-1976. He worked on the designation of wilderness areas in the Allegheny National Forest including Tracy Ridge and the Allegheny Front, both of which became National Recreation Areas. In 1973 a hiking program was established and Richard has led hikes, at least once a month, ever since. Richard was chair of the Pennsylvania Chapter, 1976-1980, which included being chair at the time of the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in Harrisburg, PA. He served on the Governor's Science Council for Pennsylvania including its Energy Facility Sitting Task Force. Richard also served on, and was chair of, the Appalachian Regional Conservation Committee; Sierra Club Regional Vice President, 1982-1983; and was a member of the Sierra Club National Council, 1980-1982.
This collection also includes a collection of materials from Richard Pratt's extended family including his parents, Karl and Gertrude Pratt; his grandparents, Burton and Mary Luella Pratt, of Wellington, OH; and members of his Mother's side of the family, the Gennis Family, of New York City.
Scope and Content Notes
The Collection of Richard Pratt, 1820-2005, contains four separate series. Series I. Richard Pratt Professional, 1950-2004, spans Richard Pratt's professional career, from an undergraduate at the University of Chicago to Professor Emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh. This series includes three subseries: Subseries 1. contains materials related to Richard Pratt's education and professional positions including class notes, bibliographies, awards, workbooks, group meeting notices, and funding proposals. Subseries 2. includes memos, journals, and correspondence regarding Pratt's involvement with Semester at Sea. Subseries 3. contains professional correspondence. These materials are arranged chronologically by subject and more information can be found in the series and subseries scope notes.
Series II. contains materials related to Richard Pratt's non-professional life, 1940-2005. This series includes three subseries: 1. General Materials, 1940-1978 includes hiking journals, elementary and high school manuscripts, correspondence regarding trips to Quebec and Cuba, passports, and address books; 2. Family Correspondence, 1940-2005 includes letters between Richard and his parents, letters written to his extended family, Christmas letters written to friends and colleagues, and letters between Richard and his wife, Ann and their children; and 3. Personal Correspondence, 1943-1999 including letters between the Pratts and friends, colleagues, and extended family. Additional information concerning these materials can be found at the series and subseries scope content notes.
Series III. consists of materials relating to Richard Pratt involvement with the Sierra Club, 1973-1998. This series contains publications, history, bylaws, minutes, proposals, and trip reports and is arranged chronologically by subject. Richard Pratt's history of involvement can be found in his biography. Series IV. contains materials related to the Pratt family, 1820-1997. This series contains four subseries: subseries 1. contains materials that represent the professional career of Richard Pratt's father - Karl Pratt, Professor of Psychology at Central Michigan University, 1920-1989. This subseries contains resumes, articles, manuscripts, reprints, article/book reviews, and correspondence. This subseries is also arranged chronologically by subject.
Subseries 2. consists of the personal materials of Karl and Gertrude Pratt (Richard's Parents), 1911-1997. This subseries is organized into three sections: General Materials, 1911-1989; Family Correspondence, 1919-1997; and Personal Correspondence, 1919-1997. The first section contains diaries, journals, account books, correspondence, and essays, the bulk of which represent Karl's adolescence, travels, and attempts at writing fiction, 1911-1930. The second section contains family correspondence, 1919-1997. This subseries includes correspondence between Karl and Gertrude Pratt, mostly between 1933-1937, after Richard was born and living in New York with his Mother while his Father worked in Michigan; other correspondence includes Karl Pratt to/from his mother Mary Luella and sister Mildred Pratt (Needles); Karl and Gertrude to/from the Gennis family (Gertrude's family); and Karl and Gertrude to/from Richard Pratt's children. The third section consists of other personal correspondence to/from Karl and Gertrude Pratt and is arranged chronologically and alphabetically.
Subseries 3. contains materials, mostly correspondence, from other members of Pratt's extended family. Family members include Burton and Mary Luella Pratt, Richard's Grandparents; Benjamin and Alta Pratt, Burton's Brother and various other family members. Some of this material dates back to the 1840s and 1850s and includes correspondence, notebooks, account books, invitations, manuscripts, and other materials, 1820-1960. Subseries 4. contains photographs of Richard, Ann, Karl, Gertrude, and various Pratt and Gennis family members, 1860s-1940s. Inventories are available if noted at the folder level.
Access Restrictions
No restrictions.
Accruals
Additional material received in 2004 and 2005.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Richard Pratt in 1998.
Previous Citation
Richard Pratt Collection, 1820-2005, AIS.1998.03, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Preferred Citation
Richard Pratt Collection, 1820-2005, AIS.1998.03, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Dan Horvath in March 2005.
Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Dan Horvath in March 2005. Information about the collection title and the controlled access terms was extracted from the MARC record in the University of Pittsburgh catalog Voyager ID number: 4516371
Copyright
Permission for publication is given on behalf of the University of Pittsburgh as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Subjects
Corporate Names
Institute for Shipboard Education (University of Pittsburgh)
International Radiation Physics Society
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Sierra Club. Pennsylvania Chapter. Allegheny Group
Stanford University. Department of Physics
University of Chicago. Department of Physics
University of Pittsburgh. Department of Physics and Astronomy
