“ It is a good thing to be famous, provided that the fame has been honestly won. It is a good thing to be rich when the image and superscription of God is recognized on every coin. But the sweetest thing in the world is to be loved. The tears that were shed over the coffin of Charles Pratt welled up out of loving hearts.”

Dr. Theodore L. Cuyler, during Charles Pratt's funeral

Charles Pratt was a man well-loved. His death inspired poetry and songs, and more than a few tears were shed over his coffin. As our distance from him grows with each passing year, the memories of this man that Pratt Institute carried with it has become an achingly silent whisper.

Charles Pratt's biography is a classic rags to riches story, something akin to a Charles Dickens novel. Our protagonist was the seventh son in a family of eleven; his family the very definition of poor. Yet, he eventually became the 'Richest Man in Brooklyn'. His journey was defined through his philosophies, and his philosophies defined an Institute and thousands of lives.