Pratt Institute - Prattonia Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

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“Ag I said last Founder’s Day, the developing and enlarging power of the Institute must be in itself. The giving which counts is the giving of one’s self. The faithful teacher who gives his strength and life without stint or hope of reward, other than the sense of fidelity to duty, gives most, and so the record will stand when our books are closed at the day of final accounting. “So to my sons and co-trustees, who will have this work to carry on when I am gone, I wish to say: The world will overestimate your ability, and will underestimate the value of your work; will be exacting of every promise made or implied; will be critical of your failings; will often misjudge your motives and hold you to strict account for all your doings. Many pupils will make demands and be forgetful of your service to them. Ingratitude will often be your reward. When the way is dark and full of discouragement and difficulty you will need to look on the other side of the picture, which you will find full of hope and gladness. So I would give you a word of encouragement and cheer, and possibly I cannot do better than to impress upon you the wise counsel of an ancient sage from another race, as follows: “You do not live for yourself. If you live for yourself you shall come to nothing. Be brave, be just, be pure, be true in word and deed. Care not for your enjoyment, care not for your life; care only for what is right. So, and not otherwise, it shall be well with you.” DEATH OF MR. PRATT Mr. Pratt had been prevailed upon in the early spring of 1890 to allow Mr. Herbert Adams, sculptor, instructor in the School of Fine and Applied Arts, to model his portrait in his Pratt Institute studio. Nearly every morning for several weeks Mr. Pratt would go to the studio, and while engaged in earnest conversation with some director regarding the work of his school, Mr. Adams would carry nearer to completion the portrait. On the morning of May 4, 1891, Mr. Pratt made his usual visit to the Institute and remarked to the writer— Mr. Adams thinks the clay portrait is finished and every one who has seen it seems satisfied, so I think I will go down to the studio and tell Mr. Adams that I, too, will call it finished.” Mr. Pratt then went to his office and strangely enough his death came suddenly that day. A reproduction of the portrait in bronze, through voluntary contributions of Pratt Insti- tute students, was soon placed in the General Office bearing the words so typical of the man, Charles Pratt, “The giving which counts is the giving of one’s self.” Another copy of the bronze portrait may be seen in the entrance hall of the Library. PRATT INSTITUTE ORGANIZATION Mr. Frederic B. Pratt, son of the founder, has been the executive officer of Pratt Institute since its beginning in 1887, calling himself, modestly, “Secretary”; but, in this position, he has done a very great work for Pratt Institute. He has given of his time most unselfishly to the vast number of details that engage the attention of a chief executive officer, and he is thoroughly acquainted with every course of study in the various schools of the Institute. To him the students owe much that has come to them in their life at the Institute. Then again the Institute is unique among educational institutions in having a Board of Trustees consisting of the six sons, and at the present time, of four grandsons of the founder, who have interested themselves each and all to an extraordinary degree in promoting all that Pratt Institute stands for, and in building and adding to the endowment as occasion has required. Nothing could be more fully lived up to than the statement made to the writer the morning after the funeral of the founder in May, 1891, by Mr. Charles M. Pratt, President of the Board of Trustees, when he said, “Please note down everything that you can think of that father intended to do, for we, as his sons, intend so far as possible to carry out every known wish that he expressed.” Now prophetic have been the words of the founder uttered on that last Founder’s Day, October 2, 1890, when he said: “We believe if we do right that in time—ten years, twenty vears, fifty years- ‘we shall have all we can do to take care of the people who wish to come to Pratt Institute.” 20

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plan of teaching thrift rapidly developed into a Savings and Loan Association called ‘The Thrift,” later incorporated under the banking laws of New York State. The Thrift soon out- grew the limited quarters now occupied by the Registrar of the Institute. It was then located in a building that seemed adequate for future growth north of the main Institute Building. But, owing to the unforeseen and unexpected growth of The Thrift, the business has outgrown this building and recently there was erected a new Thrift Building at the corner of DeKalb Avenue and Ryersen Street. The total assets of The Thrift in its first year amounted to $17,267 with 349 account holders. At the end of the year 1920 there were 11,323 account holders, and the total assets amounted to $6,582.943.32. THE FIRST FOUNDER’S DAY One of the most memorable occasions in the history of Pratt Institute was October second, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight. This was the first Founder's Day, so called, when the birthday of Charles Pratt, the founder of Pratt Institute, was celebrated. This date has been celebrated every year since; but, on. that particular day, the exercises were peculiarly personal and reminiscent. Mr. Pratt had said several times that he would like to speak to all the students and he chose his birthday for the occasion. He said, “I do not want this to be a public affair. I do not want anyone present from outside of the school. I want this to be an affair of the students and teachers only,—what we might call a family affair.” On that memorable morning Mr. Pratt entered the hall, and greeted in a most friendly manner the students and the young instructors. He carried his Bible in his hand and going to the platform, he first offered a most touching and personal prayer. Then, opening his Bible, he read the familiar words from Job 28, 12 and following. He then asked the students to sing “Jerusalem the Golden,” said to be one of his favorite hymns. That Scripture quotation and hymn have formed a part of the service of every Founder’s.Day since and have become a sacred legacy because of the personal association with Mr. Pratt on that first Founder’s Day. Following the prayer, the reading of the Scriptures, and the singing came Mr. Pratt’s address which was singularly intimate, an outpouring of the heart of a man with a great ideal, rich with terse sayings, drawn from the experiences of a full and noble life and bearing upon the duties of life and its responsibilities. At the close of those simple but deeply impressive . exercises, one of the former directors, a well-known educator, exclaimed, “Should I live a hundred years, I never again expect to hear such a wonderful address touching as it has the most vital things in life.” From that notable address and others, the following quotations taken down at the time, concerning work and contentment, are here repeated. “We all need work and I want to impress upon your mind the value of work.” “Be true to your work and your work will be true to you.” “You have been taught to be faithful; to be genuine and true. Now if there is one thing I have been trying to impress on Pratt Institute, it is, that every one should be true and genuine.” “Help the other fellow. Have the desire and the capacity to serve others. ‘The more you can serve, the better you will like it.” ‘ “We are not all alike. Some have to learn courage and some have to learn application.” “Tearn to have patience. Learn to be consistent and patient. You can make life just as happy or as miserable as you like as a consequence.” “This is the way we feel about Pratt Institute. You will be our witness, our advertisement. You will tell the world that Pratt Institute is a good place to go if we have done our whole duty by you.” FOUNDER’S DAY, OCTOBER 2, 1890 Tue Lasr Worps Berore rue Instrruve, or Mr, Crartes Prarr “The world goes on, and Pratt Institute, if it fulfills the hopes and expectations of its founder, must go on, and as the years pass, the field of its influence should grow wider and wider, 19

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