Stroll Myrtle Avenue for a View of Pratt's 'Preserving Activism' Photo Exhibition

A dig into the history of activism at Pratt Institute turned up the story of a vibrant summer youth program and a wealth of images documenting the students and teachers involved. Seven storefronts along Myrtle Avenue are now hosting an exhibition of some of those photos, all taken in the 1970s and 1980s.

‘Preserving Activism: A Hidden History of Pratt’s Summer Youth Program’ is on view until May 1 and is a collaboration between Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership and Pratt’s larger Preserving Activism initiative. The initiative, involving students, faculty and staff, is an ongoing research project to uncover and document Pratt’s relationship to its community and the impact of major social movements on the campus and its neighbors over the centuries of the school’s existence.

Research into the activism of the Black Student Union in the early 1970s led to the trove of images, all by photographer Marc Weinstein. The images document the two programs founded in 1973 as a result of the student activism, the Summer Youth Skills and Development Program and the Youth and Adult Services Coalition. Led by Horace Williams, eventually Pratt’s vice president, the programs brought classes to more than 6,000 children and young adults, according to the research.

An opening celebration for the exhibition takes place on Friday, April 22 at Myrtle Plaza. For more information, and a map of all the storefront locations on Myrtle Avenue between Clinton and Classon avenues, visit the Preservation Activism website.

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