Lawton Leroy Pratt (1886–1943) was an American businessman, mortician, and funeral director. He and his wife owned a prosperous undertaking business, L. L. Pratt Undertaking in the LaVilla neighborhood in Jacksonville, Florida.[1]
History[edit]
Lawson Leroy Pratt was the second African American mortician licensed in Florida and began business in 1900. It was on the 400 block on Broad Street. The Beaver Street home/business was built in 1916. It was designed by architect Joseph Haygood Blodgett, an African American who worked in Jacksonville.[2] It was in business until 2019.[3]
Pratt was an organizer of the Florida Negro Embalmers and Morticians Association and its first meeting was held the Pratt Funeral Home. The Florida Archives have a photo of L. L. Pratt Undertaking at 527 West Beaver Street, where the family lived upstairs and did business below.[4]
Oscar Hillman and his wife took over the business after Pratt's death.[3] In 2021, a plan for adaptive reuse of the home with a conversion to apartments was proposed.[2]
References[edit]
- ^ Richardson, Clement (1919). The National Cyclopedia of the Colored Race. Vol. 1. Montgomery, AL: National Publishing Company.
- ^ a b Davis, Ennis (2 September 2022). "Adaptive reuse of LaVilla's Pratt Funeral Home proposed". TheJaxsonMag.com.
- ^ a b Macdonald, Dan (18 April 2022). "Opened in 1916, the structure was a funeral home until it closed in 2019". Jax Daily Record.
- ^ "Lawton L. Pratt funeral home - Jacksonville, Florida". Florida Memory.