Sherman Pratt (March 22, 1900 – September 14, 1964) was an American sportsman, explorer, and co-founder of Florida's Marineland and the Grenville Baker Boys Club.

Early life

Pratt was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, the second son of

George Dupont Pratt George Dupont Pratt (August 16, 1869 – January 20, 1935) was an American conservationist, philanthropist, Boy Scout sponsor, big-game hunter and collector of ancient antiquities. Early life Pratt was born on August 16, 1869, and raised ...

and Helen Deming Sherman. He graduated from Amherst College in 1927, where he played varsity football.

Career

Pratt had ties to RKO pictures, and produced numerous documentary films. Together with W. Douglas Burden,

Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Cornelius "Sonny" Vanderbilt Whitney (February 20, 1899 – December 13, 1992) was an American businessman, film producer, government official, writer and philanthropist. He was also a polo player and the owner of a significant stable of Thorough ...

, and

Ilya Tolstoy Count Ilya Lvovich Tolstoy (; 22 May 1866 – 11 December 1933) was a Russian writer, and the third child and second son of Leo Tolstoy. Early life Ilya was born at Yasnaya Polyana and spent most of his young life there, until the family took ...

, he was a co-founder of

Marineland of Florida Marineland of Florida (usually just called Marineland), one of Florida's first marine mammal parks, is billed as "the world's first oceanarium". Marineland functions as an entertainment and swim-with-the-dolphins facility, and reopened to the pu ...

, the world's first

oceanarium An oceanarium can be either a marine mammal park, such as Marineland of Canada, or a large-scale aquarium, such as the Lisbon Oceanarium, presenting an ocean habitat with marine animals, especially large ocean dwellers such as sharks. First ma ...

. He was also a member of the Explorers Club, and the president and founder of the Grenville Baker Boys Club. The Boys Club made annual excursions to the Pratt family camps on Holmes Lake (New Brunswick), Canada, which had been constructed by

in 1909. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he was a

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Personal life

In 1942, Pratt married Ethel B. Schniewind, a divorcee, previously married to H. Edward Manville Jr. Pratt had one child, a daughter E. Deming Pratt. Pratt died of a heart attack and stroke on September 14, 1964, in London, England.

References

External links

Amherst athletics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Sherman 1900 births 1964 deaths Amherst College alumni People from Brooklyn Charles Pratt family