Dallas Pratt
| Dallas Pratt | |
|---|---|
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| Born | August 21, 1914 Islip, New York, U.S. |
| Died | May 20, 1994 |
| Occupation | Psychiatrist |
Dallas Pratt (August 21, 1914 – May 20, 1994) was an American psychiatrist, animal rights campaigner and founder of the American Museum in Britain. He had homes in America, France and England. He died from cancer at his home in New York on May 20, 1994, three months before his eightieth birthday.
Pratt was born in Islip, New York. His mother, Beatrice, was the granddaughter of the Standard Oil magnate Henry Huttleston Rogers (1840-1909). His father, Alex, and mother divorced when Dallas was three years old. His sister, Cynthia, was two years his senior. Standard Oil (now Exxon) was founded with J.D. Rockefeller. Dallas inherited a share of this wealth and also the family tradition of public benefaction on a grand scale. He felt that this helped justify great inequalities of wealth, though he knew that not everybody necessarily shared this view.
His unusual name came from his ancestor, Alexander James Dallas, who was Secretary of the US Treasury under President James Madison, and after whom Dallas, Texas was named.
He attended Buckley School, Aiken Preparatory School in South Carolina (1924-1927), and St. Paul’s School, Concord, New Hampshire (1927-1932). On graduating from Yale University, where he majored in English, in 1936, he took a year off and travelled throughout Europe and Asia studying art and architecture. In 1937 in England, he met the British Quaker John Judkyn (1913-1963) who became his life partner and co-founder of the American Museum. On his return Dallas attended Columbia University and Bellevue Hospital, New York and qualified as a physician and a psychiatrist. It was as a psychiatrist that he served in the US Army Medical Corps during World War II and later continued to practise on the staff of Columbia University, counselling foreign students, and at St. Luke’s Hospital, New York. Pratt retained links with Columbia University acting as editor and contributor to Columbia Library Columns for 30 years.
Dr Pratt’s lifelong affection for animals developed into a passionate concern for their welfare, but, ever the moderate, he attempted to persuade rather than harangue the public and scientific establishment. In 1969 he established Argus Archives, the purpose of which was to disseminate information on the plight of animals, particularly in slaughterhouses and laboratories. He wrote and published two books on animal experiments in the US, the first a survey, the second suggesting alternative, less painful techniques. His commitment to animal welfare earned him the Albert Schweitzer medal, presented to him at the White House in 1981, and the Annual Award from the New York Humane Society. Argus Archives later changed its name to The Two Mauds, named after Maud Duke, his childhood governess, and Maud Pratt, his Scots terrier.
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