Richard Henry Pratt

Life & Legacy

Brigadier-General Richard Henry Pratt (December 6, 1840 – March 15, 1924) was a United States Army officer who founded the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania in 1879 and served as its longtime superintendent. Prior to this, Pratt also supervised American Indian prisoners of war held at Fort Marion in St. Augustine, Florida. He is known for using the phrase "kill the Indian, save the man" in reference to the ethics of the school and efforts to forcibly assimilate Indian tribes into white American culture. Pratt is also associated with the first recorded use of the word "racism," which he used in 1902 to criticize the policy of racial segregation in the United States.