Edwin T. Pratt

Edwin T. Pratt (December 6, 1930 – January 26, 1969) was an American civil rights activist. At the time of his assassination in 1969, he was Executive Director of the Seattle Urban League."A Lasting Tribute", Pratt Fine Arts Center quarterly class schedule, Winter 2004, p.1.] Heather Trescases, " [http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=4142 Edwin Pratt is murdered outside of his Shoreline home on January 26, 1969] ", HistoryLink.org Essay 4142, February 15, 2003, accessed online 23 February 2007.]

Life

Born in Miami, Florida, Pratt received his bachelor's degree from Clark College (Atlanta, Georgia) and his master's in social work from Atlanta University. He worked for the Urban League in Cleveland, Ohio and Kansas City, Missouri before arriving in Seattle in 1956 to be the Seattle league's Community Relations Secretary. In 1961, he became the Executive Director of the Seattle Urban League. Among his achievements was the Triad Plan for the desegregation of the Seattle Public Schools; he also led an initiative for equal housing opportunities.

Pratt was killed outside his home in Shoreline, Washington, a suburb immediately north of Seattle. Two men were involved in the shooting; it is presumed that a third drove the getaway car. It is still unknown who killed him; they were reportedly young men, but not even their race is certain.

Pratt was survived by his wife, Bettye, and his daughter Miriam Katherine, five years old at the time of his death.

He is commemorated today by Seattle's Pratt Park and by the Pratt Fine Arts Center, which is partially in that park. [ [http://www.seattle.gov/parks/parkspaces/prattpar.htm Pratt Park] , Seattle Parks and Recreation. Accessed 23 February 2007.]

Notes

External links

*Heather Trescases, " [http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=4142 Edwin Pratt is murdered outside of his Shoreline home on January 26, 1969] ", gives an extensive account of Pratt's assassination and the subsequent investigations.