Pratt, Richard Henry, 1840-1924

Richard Henry Pratt (1840-1924) was a U.S. Army officer who fought for the Union during the Civil War, served on the western frontier (to 1875), established and administered the Carlisle Indian Industrial School (1879-1904). He advocated fair treatment of U.S. Indians and strongly believed that through education they could be assimilated into American society.

Richard Henry Pratt devoted his life to public service, beginning as a soldier in the Civil War and later fighting Indians on the frontier. It was on the frontier that Pratt came in contact with the American Indian and began developing the theories that were to guide him throughout his life.

It was Pratt's belief that the American Indian, although leading a savage and uncivilized life, was fully capable of being educated and absorbed into American society. Pratt gained support for this view when he commanded a group of seventy-two Indian prisoners at St. Augustine, Florida, in 1875. Through education and humane treatment, Pratt believed that even the most "savage" of Indians might become educated and law abiding citizens.

Pratt's efforts resulted in the founding of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1879. As head of the school, Pratt stressed both academic and industrial education. He believed that if the Indian was to claim his rightful place as an American citizen, he must renounce his tribal way of life, abandon the reservation, and seek education and employment among the "best classes" of Americans.

During his superintendency of the Carlisle School, Pratt became an outspoken opponent of tribal segregation on reservations. He believed that this system as administered and encouraged by the Indian Bureau was hindering the education and civilization of the Indian and creating helpless wards of the state. These views inevitably led to conflicts with the Indian Bureau and the government officials who supported the reservation system. Long standing animosities came to a head in May of 1904 when Pratt strongly denounced the Indian Bureau and the reservation system as a hindrance to the civilization and assimilation of the Indian. This controversy, coupled with earlier disputes with the government over civil service reform, led to Pratt's forced retirement as superintendent of the Carlisle School in 1904. This did not, however, end Pratt's long career as a crusader for Indian causes. A tireless speaker and letter writer, he waged a vigorous campaign for the fair and humane treatment of the American Indian until his death in 1924.