Charles Richardson Pratt Papers
name: label: Creator
content: Pratt, Charles Richardson, 1860-1935
label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of History of Technology
label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering
label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Work and Industry
label: Names
content: Sprague, Frank J.
place: label: Place
content: Montclair (N.J.)
topic: label: Topic
content: Mechanical engineering and engineers
label: Topic
content: Inventors
label: Topic
content: Elevators
label: Topic
content: Machine-tools
label: Topic
content: Patents -- 1890-1900
label: Topic
content: Power transmission
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This collection was purchased from Charles R. Pratt's daughter, Gertrude Pratt Vance, in 1973.
creator: label: Creator
content: Pratt, Charles Richardson, 1860-1935
setName: label: See more items in
content: Charles Richardson Pratt Papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers document the professional career of mechanical engineer, Charles Richardson Pratt.  The papers include correspondence, patents, patent application materials, agreements, photographs, publications, and blueprints for many of Pratt's inventions, especially his work on elevators.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Charles Richardson Pratt (1860-1935), was born in Massachusetts to John C. and Mary Anne  Richardson. He graduated from the Hopkins School of Boston and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1879.  Pratt worked at Whittier Machine Company of Boston (1882-1890) where he designed and built the first electric elevator in 1888. The elevator was installed in the Tremont House, Boston. Pratt also worked as an agent and later as a consulting engineer for the Otis Elevator Company, the inventors of the hydraulic elevator.

Pratt was best known for his development of the first electrically powered elevator. In 1892, inventor Frank Sprague (1857-1934) founded the Sprague Electric Elevator Company, and with Charles R. Pratt developed the Sprague-Pratt Electric Elevator. They demonstrated that electrically powered elevators were capable of competing with hydraulic elevators.  Pratt held several engineering positions and worked for the Marine Engine Company of Newark, New Jersey (1902-1905) developing elevator systems; consulting engineer to the Universal Speed Control Company of New York City (1906-1919); consultant to the American Engineering Company of Philadelphia (1912); mechanical superintendent at the Crocker Wheel Company of Ampere, New Jersey (1919); engineer for the E. Horton and Sons Company of Connecticut (1920-1923); the General Tractors Corporation (1924-1927); and was associated with the Watson Elevator Company of New York City (1928-1930).  Pratt patented many of his ideas, earning over thirty-five patents related mostly to elevators, 

Pratt was a member of the Masons, the Sons of the American Revolution, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the MIT Club of New Jersey, and the Motor Club of London. He married Mary Byron Ladd and they had two children, Gertrude Ladd Pratt and Donald Richardson Pratt.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 6 Cubic feet (13 boxes, 8 oversize folders)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1860-1935
label: Date
content: bulk 1910-1924
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Transferred to the Archives Center in 2007 by the Division of Work and Industry, formerly called the Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0958
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Diaries
label: Type
content: Drawings
label: Type
content: Trade catalogs
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Notebooks
label: Type
content: Letterpress books
label: Type
content: Patents
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into eight series.

Series 1: Personal Materials, 1875-1935

Series 2: Diaries, 1894, 1928-1931

Series 3: Correspondence, 1872-1920

Series 4: Notebooks, 1880, 1889, 1900

Series 5: Inventions, 1860-1927

Series 6: Photographs, 1890-1902

Series 7: Publications, 1895-1929

Series 8: Drawings, 1878-1929
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Alison Oswald, archivist, 2016.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Diaries
label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: Trade catalogs
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- 19th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Notebooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Letterpress books
label: Genre/Form
content: Patents -- 1870-1880
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: These papers contain personal materials of Charles R. Pratt; letterpress copybooks; engineering notebooks; diaries; material relating to the development of the heavy-duty, high-rise electric elevator; material concerning elevator cable equalizers and safety devices, Morton-Jacobsen and other lathe chucks, lathe drives and the Pratt Driver, the hydraulic transmission of power in trucks, and ship steering gear; and studies reports, drawings, photographs, catalogs, and trade literature concerning mechanical engineering.