William B. Pratt to Charles W. Chesnutt, 11 January 1921
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HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
SYNDICATE BUREAU
W. B. PRATT MANAGER
4 PARK STREET BOSTON
FICTION
BIOGRAPHY
NATURE SERIES
CHILDREN'S STORIES
JUVENILE VERSE
SPECIAL ARTICLES
January 11, 1921.
Mr. Charles W. Chesnutt,
1106 Williamson Building,
Cleveland, Ohio.
Dear Mr. Chesnutt:
Thank you for letting us know in regard to the motion picture production of your books.1 If there is anything we can do toward obtaining a definite contract for them, do not hesitate to let us know.
Very truly yours, HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY. W. B. Pratt. P/GCorrespondent: William Brace Pratt (1886–1961) was a White Bostonian whose mother was a daughter of Henry Oscar Houghton, co-founder of Houghton Mifflin Company. He graduated from Yale in 1906 and worked for Houghton Mifflin's Special Sales department from 1907 to 1929; as the manager of the syndicate bureau, he frequently correspondended with Chesnutt about the film rights to his works in the 1920s.
1. Chesnutt's letter to William B. Pratt at Houghton Mifflin Company predating January 11, 1921, has not been located, but would have informed Pratt about the ongoing discussions with Micheaux Film Corporation begun in the summer of 1920 . The intervening correspondence between Micheaux Film Corporation and Chesnutt has not survived, but 1 makes clear that Chesnutt had sent him his short story collection The Conjure Woman upon request in the fall of 1920. [back]
