Talk:John Lee Pratt

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Family members[edit]

A family member of the late Mr. Pratt added several things that are irrelevant to his biography which I removed. I preserve this here but it does not belong in the biography itself:

<<John Lee Pratt's great-nephew was Darrell Forsythe Holmes, Jr., a well-known criminal defense lawyer and author with strong ties to Texas law enforcement where he served as Chief of Police in several cities. He wrote the non-fiction book "Marijuana Acquittal" among others.>>

Holmes is of course well-known to his family. He also unsuccessfully challenged the will of Mr Pratt reflecting the view among some relatives outside the immediate family that John Lee Pratt had not adequately provided for the extended family given the size of his fortune. But the will was upheld and the challenge dismissed. 185.37.110.20 (talk) 13:13, 22 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Stories told about Mr. Pratt[edit]

Mr. Pratt and the engine prototype. As there is no citation evidence for this story and it is not directly relevant to the biography I am including it here as it gives a sense of Mr. Pratt's personality. He apparently left a strong impression on everyone who met him even in his elderly years. This story was told to one of the relatives of Mr. Pratt by the former Secretary to the University of Virginia Board of Visitors. The person who recounted the story was a man of good reputation who served in the University administration for many decades and had met Mr. Pratt on many occasions.

The story is as follows: Mr. Pratt had provided a prototype engine to the engineering school from GM that he wanted the engineering students to be able to take apart and learn from. Like Mr. Jefferson, who in founding the original university ensured it would have schools of natural philosophy and, shortly thereafter, engineering to help with medicine, farming and other practical arts, Mr. Pratt believed that students learn from tinkering. When he returned after some time (several semesters later), he asked about the engine and then asked to see it. He found it still boxed. At this point he ordered it removed and sent to UVa's main rival in the Commonwealth, Virginia Tech.

Of course there remain many scholarships at the University of Virginia that were funded out of the Pratt donations. I was not able to get a list from the internet but if I have time I will speak with someone at the University to get such a list. But I know from personal experience, that, for example there is a scholarship in John Lee Pratt's name to graduate students in the Physics department. John Lee Pratt's portrait in the 1990s was in the Physics library. I am not certain if is still there as of this writing. 185.37.110.20 (talk) 13:26, 22 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]