Pratt, Mildred

This was summarized from an Illinois State University news article by John Twork. There’s much more research to be done on this incredible individual. If you’re interested in volunteering to help uncover more local history, please click here to contact our volunteer department.

Born in 1928 to impoverished East Texas sharecroppers, Dr. Mildred Pratt fought racism, segregation, sexism, and generational poverty—among countless other obstacles—to achieve a better life and help others do the same. Education, she found, was key.

Pratt was valedictorian of her high school and earned four college diplomas, including two master’s degrees and a Ph.D. Later, she helped hundreds of students achieve their academic goals during her 24-year teaching career at Illinois State University, where in the 1970s, she became a full professor when Black women made up less than 1% of full professors nationwide.

Mildred and her seven siblings, whose grandmother had been enslaved in Alabama, were raised during the Great Depression by their single mother. She tried, but struggled, to provide enough food for her children. Yet, Mildred thrived academically.

Recognizing her potential, a high school teacher suggested that Mildred attend Jarvis Christian College in Hawkins, Texas, a historically Black institution that allowed students to alternate working and attending school to afford tuition.

In 1951, Mildred received a bachelor’s degree in religion and sociology from Jarvis. She went on to earn a master’s degree in psychology and philosophy of religion at Butler University while working as a maid. Mildred then pursued another master’s, this time in social work at Indiana University; however, as she neared the end of her program, she ran out of money. Mildred pursued a scholarship but was denied because she was Black.

Overhearing Mildred’s circumstance, a secretary at the school volunteered to finance the remainder of her education, and in 1955, Mildred earned her second graduate degree.

After earning a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1969, Pratt was hired by Illinois State University’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology to become the first full-time faculty member in the department to teach social work.

As a teacher, Mildred introduced her students to active, engaged social work. She designed a class in which students interviewed marginalized community members—to “talk, listen, and learn.”

But despite Mildred having earned four degrees and a faculty position, she continued to face injustices. When her tenure was initially denied at the University, she wrote to then President David Berlo to make him aware of the “institutional racism” she was experiencing in her tenure case.

“What you describe as inefficiencies—it’s deliberately built-in stumbling blocks. I refuse to settle for this,” she told him.

Eventually, Mildred earned tenure and remained at Illinois State until retiring and being named a professor emeritus in 1993. In addition to her teaching and research contributions, Mildred co-founded the Bloomington-Normal Black History Project in partnership with the McLean County Museum of History. She interviewed, in collaboration with Illinois State and Illinois Wesleyan partners, nearly 100 elderly Black residents about their life experiences.

Mildred passed away in 2012 at the age of 83.

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