Mr. Pratt gained information from all possible sources about the kind of an institution which should be built to provide the knowledge of books and the knowledge of earning a living. He travelled widely in his own country, corresponded with the heads of various schools, such as The Rose Polytechnic Institute at Terre Haute, Ind., the Institute of Technology in Boston, and with Dr. John Eaton, then Commissioner of Education, Dr. Felix Adler of New York, and others. Then Mr. Pratt took his son, Mr. F. B. Pratt, and his private secretary, Mr. Heffley, to twenty of the leading cities in England, France, Austria, Switzerland, and Germany, to see what the Old World was doing to educate her people in self-help.
He found great industrial schools on the Continent supported by the city or state, where every boy or girl could learn the theory or practice, or both, of the trade to be followed for a livelihood. On leaving the schools the pupils could earn a dollar or more a day. Our own country was sadly backward in such matters. The public schools had introduced manual training only to a very limited extent. Mr. Pratt determined to build an institute where any who wished to engage in "mechanical, commercial, and artistic pursuits" should have a thorough "theoretic and practical knowledge." It should dignify labor, because he believed there should be no idlers among rich or poor. It should teach "that personal character is of greater consequence than material productions."
Mr. Pratt, on Sept. 11, 1885, bought a large piece of land on Ryerson Street, Brooklyn, a total of 32,000 square feet, and began to carry out in brick and stone his noble thought for the people. He not only gave his millions, but he gave his time and thought in the midst of his busy life. He said, "The giving which counts, is the giving of one's self. The faithful teacher who gives his strength and life without stint or hope of reward, other than the sense of fidelity to duty, gives most; and so the record will stand when our books are closed at the day of final accounting."
Mr. Pratt at first erected the main building six stories high, 100 feet by 86, brick with terra-cotta and stone trimmings, and the machine-shop buildings, consisting of metal-working and wood-working shops, forge and foundry rooms, and a building 103 feet by 95 for bricklaying, stone-carving, plumbing, and the like. Later the high-school building was added; and a library building has recently been erected, the library having outgrown its rooms. In the main building, occupying the whole fourth floor as well as parts of several other floors, is the art department of the Institute. Here, in morning, afternoon, and evening classes, under the best instructors, a three years' course in art may be taken, in drawing, painting, and clay-modelling; also courses in architectural and mechanical drawing, where in the adjacent shops the properties of materials and their power to bear strain can be learned. Many students take a course in design, and are thus enabled to win good positions as designers of book-covers, tiles, wall-papers, carpets, etc. The normal art course of two years fits for teaching. Of those who left the Institute between 1890 and 1893, having finished the course, seventy-six became supervisors of drawing in public schools, or teach art elsewhere, with salaries aggregating $47,620. Courses are also given in wood-carving and art needlework. Though there were but twelve in the class in the art department at the opening of the Institute in 1887, in three years the number of pupils had increased to about seven hundred.
Mr. Pratt instituted another department in the main building,—that of domestic science. There are morning, afternoon, and evening classes in sewing, cooking, and other household matters. A year's course, two lessons a week, is given in dressmaking, cutting, fitting, and draping, or the course may be taken in six months if time is limited; a course in millinery with five lessons a week, and the full course in three months if the person has little time to give; lectures in hygiene and home nursing, that women in their homes may know what to do in cases of sickness; classes in laundry work, in plain and fancy cooking, and preparing food for invalids. There are Normal courses to fit teachers for schools and colleges to give instruction in house sanitation, ventilation, heating, cooking, etc.
This department of domestic science has been most useful and popular. As many as 2,800 pupils have been enrolled in a single year. A club of men came to take lessons in cooking preparatory to camp-life. Nurses come from the training-schools in hospitals to learn how to cook for invalids. Many teachers have gone out from this department. The Institute has not been able to supply the demand for sewing-women and dressmakers during the busy season.
Mr. Pratt rightly thought "that a knowledge of household employments is thoroughly consistent with the grace and dignity and true womanliness of every American girl.... The housewife who knows how to manage the details of her home has more courage than one who is dependent upon servants, no matter how faithful they may be. She is a better mistress; for she can sympathize with them, and appreciate their work when well done."
Mr. Pratt had another object in view, as he said, "To help those families who must live on small incomes,—say, not over $400 or $500 per year,—teaching the best disposition of this money in wise purchase, economical use of material, and little waste. One aim of this department is to make the home of the workingman more attractive."