The Pratt Institute Library with Cannon
The first image above was taken when I first arrived at Pratt in the fall of 1981. The library was undergoing a renovation and therefore corrugated sheet metal surrounds the place.
The second image here was taken in conjunction with a gathering of Pratt alumni forty years out, on June 7th 2025. Photographically, this second shot was made with a phone (which favors a wide lens), hence the difference in spatial relationships (note relative size of library to cannon in each image).
The cannon serves as Pratt's mascot; the sports teams are known as the Cannoneers. I had no idea of the history of that cannon, which (in my humble opinion) is quite amazing. Here is some text from the Brooklyn Visual Heritage Project Chart site...
"The trophy which gives Pratt varsity teams their nickname, 'Cannoneers,' the bronze Spanish cannon, cast in Seville in 1720 and inscribed to Philip V and Elizabeth Farnese, came from Morro Castle at the time of the Spanish American War and was mounted at the Institute in 1900" (source).
Two images by Richard Koenig; taken in 1981 and 2025.
