Ruth Baker Pratt
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's17th district
In office March 4, 1929 – March 3, 1933
Preceded by	William W. Cohen
Succeeded by	Theodore A. Peyser
Personal details
Born	Ruth Sears Baker (1877-08-24)August 24, 1877 Ware, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	August 23, 1965(1965-08-23) (aged 87) Glen Cove, New York, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	John Teele Pratt ​ ​ (m. 1904; died 1927)​
Children	5, includingEdwin
Alma mater	Wellesley College

Ruth Sears Pratt (néeBaker; August 24, 1877 – August 23, 1965)^[1] was an American politician and the first femaleU.S. representative to be elected fromNew York.^[2]

On August 24, 1877, Pratt was born as Ruth Sears Baker inWare, Massachusetts to Carrie V. Baker and Edwin H. Baker, a cotton manufacturer.^[1][3][4]

Pratt attendedDana Hall.^[5] Pratt studied mathematics atWellesley College.^[1][3] She also spent a year and a half studying violin at the Conservatory of Liege, Belgium.^[5]

In the1920 presidential election, Pratt was apresidential elector forWarren G. Harding andCalvin Coolidge.^[6] In 1924, she supported and drew in women's support for Frank J. Coleman Jr. candidacy for leadership of theFifteenth Assembly District; Pratt was later made associate leader of the District before she became secretary.^[5] She was a member of theBoard of Aldermen of New York City in 1925, being the first woman to serve; re-elected in 1927 and served until March 1, 1929. She was a member of theRepublican National Committee 1929-1943; delegate to theRepublican National Conventions in 1924, 1932, 1936, 1940; delegate to the Republican State conventions in 1922, 1924, 1926, 1928, 1930, 1936, and 1938.^[7] She served as president of theWomen's National Republican Club from 1943 to 1946.

She was elected as a Republican to the 71st and 72nd Congresses (1929–1933),^[8][9] being the first woman elected to Congress from New York, beating out her primary competitorPhelps Phelps.^[10] In 1932, Ruth lost reelection to DemocratTheodore Peyser.^[11]

Together withReed Smoot, she introduced thePratt-Smoot Act, passed by theUnited States Congress, and signed into law by PresidentHerbert Hoover on March 3, 1931. The Act provided $100,000, to be administered by theLibrary of Congress, to provide blind adults with books. The program, which is known asBooks for the Blind, has been heavily amended and expanded over the years, and remains in place today.^[12]

In 1904,^[16] she marriedJohn Teele Pratt, a corporate attorney, philanthropist, music impresario, and financier.^[1][17] He was one of six children born to industrialist andStandard Oil co-founderCharles Pratt and Mary Helen (née Richardson) Pratt. His siblings included brothersFrederic,George,Herbert, andHarold. From his father's first marriage, he had two half-siblings includingCharles Millard Pratt.^[18] He died in 1927, leaving her a large fortune.^[4] Together, they had five children:^[4][5][19]

• John Teele Pratt Jr. (1903–1969),^[20] who was married to Mary Christy Tiffany, the daughter of George Shepley Tiffany.^[21] They divorced and he later married Elizabeth Ogden Woodward, the daughter ofWilliam Woodward Sr. and the former wife of Robert Livingston Stevens Jr. After his death, she marriedAlexander Cochrane Cushing, founder ofSquaw Valley Ski Resort.^[22]
• Virginia Pratt (1905–1979),^[23] who marriedRobert Helyer Thayer, aU.S. Minister to Romania,^[24] in 1926.^[25]
• Sally Sears Pratt (1908–1973), who married James Tracy Jackson III in 1928.^[26][27]
• Phyllis Pratt (1912–1987),^[28] who marriedPaul Henry Nitze, theSecretary of the Navy andDeputy Secretary of Defense under PresidentLyndon B. Johnson.^[29]
• Edwin Howard Baker Pratt (1913–1975),^[30] the headmaster ofBrowne & Nichols school,^[31] who married Aileen Kelly.^[32]

Pratt died on August 23, 1965, at the family house and estate, Manor House,Glen Cove, Long Island;^[4][33][34] she was one day shy of her 88th birthday.^[35] She was interred at the Pratt Family Mausoleum, Old Tappan Road, Glen Cove.

Through her eldest son John, she was a grandmother of Mary Christy Pratt (1923–1960), who was married toBayard Cutting Auchincloss (1922–2001), the nephew of U.S. RepresentativeJames C. Auchincloss, in 1950,^[21][36] and Ruth Pratt, who in 1962 marriedU.S. State Department aide, R. Campbell James, aGroton andYale graduate who was a stepson of architectHarrie T. Lindeberg.^[37] Through her daughter Phyllis, she was a grandmother of William A. Nitze ofWashington, DC, the chairman of Oceana Technologies and Clearpath Technologies, who married Ann Kendall Richards, an independent art dealer.^[38] She was also, through her daughter Phyllis, the great grandmother ofNicholas Thompson, the CEO of The Atlantic. Through her youngest son Edwin, she was a grandmother to singer-songwriterAndy Pratt.

• Women in the United States House of Representatives

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• 1877 births
• 1965 deaths
• People from Ware, Massachusetts
• Wellesley College alumni
• Female members of the United States House of Representatives
• New York City Council members
• Politicians from Glen Cove, New York
• Family of Charles Pratt
• Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)
• Women New York City Council members
• 1920 United States presidential electors
• 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives
• 20th-century American women politicians

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