American Historical Ephemera & Photography Online

6 x 9 in. photograph of Richard Henry Pratt in military uniform, with sword and helmet, on 11 x 13 3/4 in. cardstock mount (loss to corners of mount). Lower margin of mount with blindstamp of "Choate, Carlisle, Pa." Brigadier General Richard Henry Pratt (1840-1924) was a Civil War veteran, officer in the 10th Cavalry throughout the entirety of the the Indian Wars, and founder of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. The school was established at an abandoned military barracks in Carlisle, PA, under the direction of Pratt.

John N. Choate (1848-1902) began a long photographic career at Carlisle, PA, in 1879 when the Carlisle Indian Industrial School was founded. Superintendent Pratt commissioned Choate to take "before and after" portraits to document the progress his school was making in "civilizing" the students. The photographs were distributed widely, to Native American reservations to recruit new students, and to United States officials and wealthy donors to encourage their support.

A scarce studio portrait of Richard Henry Pratt, which originally appeared in John N. Choate's Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School (Carlisle, PA: J. N. Choate, 1902).