unionsquare

The band is playing alongside the USS Recruit. See

John T. Pratt  (John Teele Pratt) (1873-1927) was a son of Charles Pratt (1830-1891) and his second wife Helen Richardson (Mary Helen Richardson) (1839-1907).  He graduated from Amherst College and Harvard Law School.

He was an industrialist with Standard Oil Co. and a philanthropist. In 1917, perhaps the time this photo was in the news, Mr. Pratt went to Washington and established the National Budget Commission. He urged a national budget system before the House Appropriations Committee who adopted it.
During the later part of 1918, he served as a Major in the American Red Cross at Paris.

He married Ruth Sears Baker (1877-1965). Mrs. Ruth Baker Pratt was the first woman to represent New York City on the Board of Alderman and later the first woman to represent New York in Congress (17th Congressional District 1929-33.)

They had three daughters and two sons: Mrs. Virginia Thayer (1905-1979),  Mrs. Sally Jackson (Sally Sears Pratt) (1908-1973),  Mrs. Phyllis Nitze (1912-1987),  Edwin Baker Pratt (Edwin Howard Baker Pratt) (1913-1975), and John T. Pratt, Jr. (John Teele Pratt, Jr.) (1903-1969)   [1] [2] [3] [4]

                Major John T. Pratt (4th from left) with the staff of the Army and Navy Department, American Red Cross, in front of the Gambetta statue, Paris, Nov. 1918.  LOC

The photographer of John T. Pratt's portrait, Joseph G. Gessford (Joseph Gaylord Gessford) (1866-1942) began his career at age seventeen with the Prince Studios in Washington, DC.  He came to New York in 1892 and established a studio in Union Square, and later moved to Fifth Avenue at Thirty-fifth Street. Gessford photographed New York's elite, and had a branch studio in the Berkshires (Lee, Massachusetts) where he photographed the elite at play. He took well-known photographs of Andrew Carnegie, George Westinghouse, Mark Twain, Buffalo Bill (Cody) and Theodore Roosevelt (view Roosevelt at The Library of Congress here.) There's an interesting back story about Mark Twain not wanting to pay the photographer as, after all, Twain had allowed Gessford to photograph him. (sigh) some things never change ;)   [1] [2]     LOC - add Gessford as creator/contributor?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Teele_Pratt

Union Square, New York City - facing north toward 17th Street

Date written on negative is 9/16/24. The Washington Times. September 17, 1924, Page 10, top of column 5 chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1924-09-17/ed-... has a short piece that could explain the event, although it refers to Helen Jones and Rosalie Todd, switching their first and last names. "Off to Vamp Votes for “Fighting Bob” NEW YORK, Sept. 17.—Miss Helen Jones and Miss Rosalie Todd stepped on the self-starter of a big car here today and started off on a trail-blazing pilgrimage through the Middle West, during which they will make “soap-box” speeches in behalf of the La Follette-Wheeler candidacy. They will tour the Middle West, stopping at farm houses to tell wives of the national issues. They will also make speeches on street corners afternoons and set speeches at night in the towns through which they pass. Miss Jones is a practicing lawyer and Miss Todd a well known social worker. They plan to make their first speeches at Poughkeepsie and Albany today."

Mrs Gordon Norrie was active in women's politics. See her NYT obituary from August 1927
timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1927/08/16/10955912...
which notes that "during the last Presidential campaign, she played a vigorous part in the La Follette campaign."

See also Biographical Sketch of Margaret Lewis Morgan Norrie
documents.alexanderstreet.com/d/1009859955
among a list of "Mainstream Suffragists—National American Woman Suffrage Association"

A bio of Helen Todd appears in the same list
documents.alexanderstreet.com/d/1011002029
The photo in the bio (from LoC's National Photo Company collection) is a match for the woman with the bell.

Rosalie Jones
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalie_Gardiner_Jones
seems best known for leading groups of suffrage "hikers" in 1912 and 1913


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Garfield_Hays
"Arthur Garfield Hays (December 12, 1881 – December 14, 1954) was an American lawyer and champion of civil liberties issues, best known as a co-founder and general counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union and for participating in notable cases including the Sacco and Vanzetti trial."

"In 1924, Hays served as New York State chairman of the second Progressive Party."
See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Party_(United_States,_1924–1934)
"The Progressive Party was a political party created as a vehicle for Robert M. La Follette, Sr. to run for president in the 1924 election."

Thanks David Pirmann for identifying the location. And swanq thanks for all of the other additional information. I'm glad we can now say what they were doing. We'll add all of this info to the catalog record.