Guide to the Percival L. Prattis Papers, 1916-1980 AIS.2007.01

Arrangement

Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
Percival L. Prattis Papers
Creator
Prattis, Percival Leroy
Collection Number
AIS.2007.01
Extent
3.75 Linear Feet (3 boxes, 4 volumes)
Date
1916-2011
Date
1936-1964
Abstract
This collection contains documents relating to the life and career of journalist, Percival L. Prattis, executive editor of the Pittsburgh Courier newspaper. The material dates between 1916 and 1980, with the majority of material dating from 1936 to 1964. The materials in this collection are correspondence, financial reports of the Courier, drafts of articles and stories, scrapbooks, and photographs.
Language
English .
Author
Wendy Pflug.
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System
Archives & Special Collections
Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Business Number: 412-648-3232 (Thomas) | 412-648-8190 (Hillman)
Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist
URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections

Separated Material

The Pittsburgh Courier, Pittsburgh Edition issues that were a part of this collection have been separated out and retained for preservation. Please consult the ASC for further information.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into the following three series:

Series I. The Pittsburgh Courier, 1936-1969

Series II. Correspondence, 1935-1979

Series II. Personal, 1916-1980

Biography

Percival Leroy (P.L.) Prattis was born on April 27, 1895 in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the only son of Alexander and Ella (Spraggins) Prattis. He attended grade school at the Christiansburg Industrial Institute in Cambria (now Christiansburg), Virginia, from 1908 to 1912. For further education, he attended the Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) in Hampton, Virginia, from 1912 to 1915. He later graduated in 1916 from the Ferris Institute, which was a preparatory academy for low income children in Big Rapids, Michigan.

Prattis served in the U.S. Army during World War I. He was a Battalion Sergeant Major, headquartered in the Company 813 Pioneer Infantry. He was stationed in France from September 15, 1918 to July 13, 1919, and was honorably discharged from his duties on July 23, 1919.

P.L. Prattis began his career in 1919 as the editor of the newly formed Michigan State News in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 1921 he moved to Chicago, Illinois, to become the city editor of the Chicago Defender, which was the most influential African American weekly newspaper in the country at the beginning of World War I. The Chicago Defender often used sensationalistic headlines and graphic images to capture the reader's attention and convey the horror of lynching and other atrocities affecting African Americans. It was the first African American newspaper to have a circulation over 100,000. Prattis held this position until May 1923. In June 1923 he was hired as the city editor of the Associated Negro Press in Chicago, which included articles that were syndicated by other African American newspapers. He also traveled on assignment and reported on international stories, such as the activities of the Moton Commission on Education in the Republic of Haiti; he even interviewed the Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie in England. He moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1936 to take a position with the highly influential African American newspaper the Pittsburgh Courier.

The Pittsburgh Courier, which was the leading African American newspaper by 1926, came from relatively inauspicious beginnings. The paper was founded by Edwin E. Harleston, a guard for the H.J. Heinz Company, as an outlet for his poetry. The first issue in 1907 was two pages in length and featured Harleston's poetry. Robert L. Vann, an attorney, drew up incorporation papers and assisted Harleston in finding investors. As one of the few African American lawyers in the city and a friend of Harleston, Vann was retained as legal counsel. Since the Courier could not afford to pay Vann, "he was given ten shares of stock valued at five dollars each in lieu of a fee" (Bunie, p. 44). Vann also was a regular editorial contributor to the Courier. In the fall of 1910 Edwin Harleston quit the paper due to creative differences and financial disagreements with the other investors. The remaining partners offered the editorship to Vann due to his experience as editor of The Courant, a student literary publication at the Western University of Pennsylvania (now the University of Pittsburgh). He was the Courier's editor, treasurer, and legal counsel and held these positions until his death in 1940.

The Pittsburgh Courier became a force for social change. Editorials by Robert Vann and others stressed that the policy of the Pittsburgh Courier was to "uplift of the Negro race…through the medium of the columns (Brewer, p. 24)." Editorials at the Courier called attention to improvements needed in housing, health care, education, job opportunities, political awareness, crime, Jim Crow, and misrepresentation in the white press. When Prattis was hired as a city editor in 1936, the Pittsburgh Courier was the most influential African American newspaper in the country, with a circulation over "250,000" (Bunie, p. 222). Prattis also had duties as reporter and was dispatched on international assignments to the Middle East, Far East and post-World War II Europe. During World War II, he traveled extensively covering the African American Armed Forces.

In 1947 he was unanimously granted membership in the Senate and House press galleries by the executive committee of the Periodical Correspondents Association, thus making him the first such permitted African American journalist. In 1948 he was promoted to managing editor, a position he held until 1956. While working at the Courier, Prattis also wrote the column "The Horizon," and was a correspondent for Our World magazine. He was named executive editor of the Pittsburgh Courier in 1956. During this time at the Courier, he highlighted the struggles of African Americans for fair employment opportunities from teaching positions to major league sports. In the 1960s the Pittsburgh Courier's circulation fell as the paper began to lose money and was no longer profitable. Many African American newspapers lost circulation during this time period as mainstream white newspapers gave coverage to the Civil Rights' Movement. Mr. Prattis retired from the Courier in 1965 after it was bought by John Sengstacke, publisher and owner of the Courier's longtime competitor, the Chicago Defender.

In retirement P.L. Prattis focused on community involvement and was very active in a number of organizations around Pittsburgh. He was the first African American officer on the Community Chest of Allegheny County Council; president of the Brashear Association; and vice-president of the Federation of Social Agencies of Allegheny County for six years. He sat on the boards of the Centre Avenue YMCA, the Pittsburgh branch of the N.A.A.C.P. and the Urban League. He was named "Community Leader of the Year" by the Jewish War Veterans Post 49. In 1962 he was awarded a medal as one of Hampton Institute's most illustrious alumni and in 1965 was given the "Master of Men" award by the state of Pennsylvania YMCA.

P.L. Prattis married Helen Marie Sands in 1939 and their daughter, Patricia, was born in 1943. Prattis died February 29, 1980 at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Aspinwall, Pennsylvania.

Sources used:

Bunie, Andrew. Robert L. Vann of the Pittsburgh Courier: Politics and Black Journalism. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1974.

Brewer, James Howard. "Robert Lee Vann and the Pittsburgh Courier." Thesis University of Pittsburgh, 1941.

Copyright

The University of Pittsburgh holds the property rights to the material in this collection, but the copyright may still be held by the original creator/author. Researchers are therefore advised to follow the regulations set forth in the U.S. Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or reproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that go beyond what is allowed by fair use.

Previous Citation

Percival L. Prattis Papers, 1916-1980, AIS.2007.01, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh

Preferred Citation

Percival L. Prattis Papers, 1916-1980, AIS.2007.01, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Access Restrictions

No restrictions.

Accruals

Additional material received in January 2011.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Patricia Prattis Jennings in December 2006.

Scope and Content Note

The Percival L. Prattis Papers contains correspondence, writings, and photographs from 1916 to 1980. The collection contains administrative and financial records of the Pittsburgh Courier. There are also materials related to his career after retirement from the Courier, including his personal and family life. Each series contains a scope note detailing the content found within the records.

In January 2011, Patricia Prattis Jennings, daughter of P.L. Prattis, donated additional materials. Included were professional and personal correspondence, photographs, and newspaper clippings. The new material has been added at the end of each existing series. Further scope notes are found after each series title.

Related Material

Brashear Association Records, 1891-1978, AIS.1979.17, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Frank E. Bolden Papers, 1930-1969, AIS.2008.05, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Community Chest of Allegheny County Records, 1933-1960, AIS.1968.14b, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Pittsburgh Branch Records, 1964-1966, 1974, AIS.1964.38, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Urban League of Pittsburgh Records, 1915-1963, AIS.1981.11, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

The Percival Leroy Prattis Papers, 1916-1980, Personal Papers, Moorland Spingarn Research Center, Howard University

The Courier's Big Story: A Romance in Journalism, 1953, film: Can 599, 600, Cinecraft Productions films (Accession 2019.227), Audiovisual Collections and Digital Initiatives Department, Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, DE 19807

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Wendy Pflug in 2010. Additional materials were intergrated into the collection in January 2011.

Subjects

    Corporate Names

    • Centre Avenue YMCA (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Frontiers International
    • Pittsburgh Courier Publishing Co.

    Personal Names

    • Vann, Jessie
    • Vann, Robert L.
    • Prattis, Percival Leroy

    Geographic Names

    • Pittsburgh (Pa.)

    Genres

    • Correspondence
    • Financial records
    • Photographs
    • Memorabilia
    • Personal papers
    • Scrapbooks

    Other Subjects

    • Newspapers -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • African Americans -- Civil rights -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Courier (Pittsburgh, Pa. : City ed.)
    • Courier (Pittsburgh, Pa. : National ed.)
    • Courier (Pittsburgh, Pa. : Pacific Coast ed.)
    • Courier (Pittsburgh, Pa. : Midwest ed.)
    • Social action
    • African American journalists -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Journalists -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • African American newspapers -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh

Container List