1955 Pulitzer Prize
Encyclopedia
Journalism awards
- Public ServicePulitzer Prize for Public ServiceThe Pulitzer Prize for Public Service has been awarded since 1918 for a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper or news site through the use of its journalistic resources. Those resources, as well as reporting, may include editorials, cartoons, photographs, graphics,...
:- The Columbus LedgerColumbus Ledger-EnquirerThe Ledger-Enquirer is a McClatchy newspaper headquartered in Downtown Columbus, Georgia, in the United States. It was founded in 1828 as the Columbus Enquirer by Mirabeau B. Lamar, who later played a pivotal role in the founding of the Republic of Texas and served as its third President...
and Sunday Ledger-Enquirer, for its complete news coverage and fearless editorial attack on widespread corruption in neighboring Phenix City, AlabamaPhenix City, AlabamaPhenix City is a city and the county seat in Russell County in the U.S. state of Alabama. Portions of Lee County are addressed as Phenix City, 36870 ZIP code, for the sole purpose that Smiths Station does not have full incorporation to annex the area...
which were effective in destroying a corrupt and racket-ridden city government. The newspaper exhibited an early awareness of the evils of lax law enforcement before the situation in Phenix City erupted into murder. It covered the whole unfolding story of the final prosecution of the wrong-doers with skill, perception, force and courage.
- The Columbus Ledger
- Local Reporting, Edition Time:
- Mrs. Caro Brown of the Alice Daily Echo, for a series of news stories dealing with the successful attack on one-man political rule in neighboring Duval County, Texas, written under unusual pressure both of edition time and difficult, even dangerous, circumstances. Mrs. Brown dug into the facts behind the dramatic daily events, as well, and obtained her stories in spite of the bitterest political opposition, showing professional skill and courage.
- Local Reporting, No Edition TimePulitzer Prize for Investigative ReportingThe Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting has been awarded since 1953, under one name or another, for a distinguished example of investigative reporting by an individual or team, presented as a single article or series in print journalism...
:- Roland Kenneth Towery of the Cuero Record, for his series of articles exclusively exposing a scandal in the administration of the Veterans' Land Program in Texas. This 32-year-old World War II veteran, a former prisoner of the Japanese, made these irregularities a state-wide and subsequently a national issue, and stimulated state action to rectify conditions in the land program.
- National ReportingPulitzer Prize for National ReportingThe Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting has been awarded since 1948 for a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs. The Pulitzer Committee issues an official citation explaining the reasons for the award....
:- Anthony LewisAnthony LewisAnthony Lewis is a prominent liberal intellectual, writing for The New York Times op-ed page and The New York Review of Books, among other publications. He was previously a columnist for the Times . Before that he was London bureau chief , Washington, D.C...
of the Washington Daily NewsWashington Daily NewsThe Washington Daily News is a daily newspaper serving Washington, North Carolina. It is the smallest daily newspaper to ever win a Pulitzer Prize gold medal....
, for publishing a series of articles which were adjudged directly responsible for clearing Abraham ChasanowAbraham ChasanowAbraham Chasanow was suspended from the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office as a security risk in July 1953, during the period of McCarthyism in the United States, in part for activities related to the founding of the cooperative Greenbelt Veteran Housing Corporation at his home in Greenbelt, Maryland...
, an employee of the U.S. Navy Department, and bringing about his restoration to duty with an acknowledgment by the Navy Department that it had committed a grave injustice in dismissing him as a security risk. Mr. Lewis received the full support of his newspaper in championing an American citizen, without adequate funds or resources for his defense, against an unjust act by a government department. This is in the best tradition of American journalism
- Anthony Lewis
- International ReportingPulitzer Prize for International ReportingThis Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on international affairs, including United Nations correspondence. In its first six years , it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic Reporting - International...
:- Harrison E. Salisbury of The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, for his distinguished series of articles, Russia Re-Viewed, based on his six years as a Times correspondent in Russia. The perceptive and well-written Salisbury articles made a valuable contribution to American understanding of what is going on inside Russia. This was principally due to the writer's wide range of subject matter and depth of background plus a number of illuminating photographs which he took.
- Harrison E. Salisbury of The New York Times
- Editorial WritingPulitzer Prize for Editorial WritingThe Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing has been awarded since 1917 for distinguished editorial writing, the test of excellence being clearness of style, moral purpose, sound reasoning, and power to influence public opinion in what the writer conceives to be the right direction...
:- Royce HowesRoyce HowesRoyce Bucknam Howes was a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author who also published a biography of Edgar Guest and a number of crime novels...
of the Detroit Free PressDetroit Free PressThe Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The Sunday edition is entitled the Sunday Free Press. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Freep"...
, for an editorial on The Cause of a Strike, impartially and clearly analyzing the responsibility of both labor and management for a local union's unauthorized strike in July, 1954, which rendered 45,000 ChryslerChryslerChrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
Corporation workers idle and unpaid. By pointing out how and why the parent United Automobile Workers' Union ordered the local strike called off and stating that management let dissatisfaction get out of hand, the editorial made a notable contribution to public understanding of the whole program of the respective responsibilities and relationships of labor and management in this field.
- Royce Howes
- Editorial CartooningPulitzer Prize for Editorial CartooningThe Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning has been awarded since 1922 for a distinguished cartoon or portfolio of cartoons published during the year, characterized by originality, editorial effectiveness, quality of drawing, and pictorial effect...
:- Daniel R. Fitzpatrick of the St. Louis Post-DispatchSt. Louis Post-DispatchThe St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the major city-wide newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri. Although written to serve Greater St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch is one of the largest newspapers in the Midwestern United States, and is available and read as far west as Kansas City, Missouri, as far south as...
, for a cartoon published on June 8, 1954 entitled, How Would Another Mistake Help? showing Uncle Sam, bayoneted rifle in hand, pondering whether to wade into a black marsh bearing the legend French Mistakes in Indo-China. The award is also given for distinguished body of the work of Mr. Fitzpatrick in both 1954 and his entire career
- Daniel R. Fitzpatrick of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- PhotographyPulitzer Prize for PhotographyThe Pulitzer Prize for Photography was one of the Pulitzer Prizes. It was awarded from 1942 until 1967. In 1968, it was split into two separate prizes: the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography and the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography .* 1942: Milton Brooks of Detroit News, for his photo...
:- John L. Gaunt of the Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, for a photo that is poignant and profoundly moving, entitled, Tragedy by the Sea, showing a young couple standing together beside an angry sea in which only a few minutes earlier their year-old son had perished.
- John L. Gaunt of the Los Angeles Times
Letters, Drama and Music Awards
- FictionPulitzer Prize for FictionThe Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. It originated as the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, which was awarded between 1918 and 1947.-1910s:...
:- A Fable by William FaulknerWilliam FaulknerWilliam Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
(RandomRandom HouseRandom House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
)
- A Fable by William Faulkner
- HistoryPulitzer Prize for HistoryThe Pulitzer Prize for History has been awarded since 1917 for a distinguished book upon the history of the United States. Many history books have also been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction and Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography...
:- Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History by Paul HorganPaul HorganPaul Horgan was an American author of fiction and non-fiction, most of which was set in the Southwestern United States. He was the recipient of two Pulitzer prizes in History...
(RinehartRinehart & CompanyRinehart & Company, an American publishing company, was the successor to Farrar & Rinehart, Inc. In 1946, following the departure of John C. Farrar, the company was renamed Rinehart & Company. The brothers Stanley M. Rinehart and Frederick R. Rinehart continued to operate the company until its...
).
- Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History by Paul Horgan
- Biography or AutobiographyPulitzer Prize for Biography or AutobiographyThe Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished biography or autobiography by an American author.-1910s:* 1917: Julia Ward Howe by Laura E...
:- The Taft Story by William S. White (Harper).
- PoetryPulitzer Prize for PoetryThe Pulitzer Prize in Poetry has been presented since 1922 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author. However, special citations for poetry were presented in 1918 and 1919.-Winners:...
:- Collected Poems by Wallace StevensWallace StevensWallace Stevens was an American Modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as a lawyer for the Hartford insurance company in Connecticut.His best-known poems include "Anecdote of the Jar",...
(KnopfAlfred A. KnopfAlfred A. Knopf, Inc. is a New York publishing house, founded by Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. in 1915. It was acquired by Random House in 1960 and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group at Random House. The publishing house is known for its borzoi trademark , which was designed by co-founder...
).
- Collected Poems by Wallace Stevens
- DramaPulitzer Prize for DramaThe Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
:- Cat on a Hot Tin RoofCat on a Hot Tin RoofCat on a Hot Tin Roof is a play by Tennessee Williams. One of Williams's best-known works and his personal favorite, the play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955...
by Tennessee WilliamsTennessee WilliamsThomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
(New Directions).
- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
- MusicPulitzer Prize for MusicThe Pulitzer Prize for Music was first awarded in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer did not call for such a prize in his will, but had arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year...
:- The Saint of Bleecker StreetThe Saint of Bleecker StreetThe Saint of Bleecker Street is an opera in three acts by Gian Carlo Menotti to an original English libretto by the composer. It was first performed at The Broadway Theatre in New York City on December 27, 1954. David Poleri and Davis Cunningham alternated in the role of Michele, and Thomas...
by Gian-Carlo Menotti (G. SchirmerG. SchirmerG. Schirmer Inc. is an American classical music publishing company based in New York City, founded in 1861. It publishes sheet music for sale and rental, and represents some well-known European music publishers in North America, such as the Italian Ricordi, Music Sales Affiliates ChesterNovello,...
); an operaOperaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
first performed at The Broadway TheatreThe Broadway TheatreThe Broadway Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 1681 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan....
, New York, December 27, 1954.
- The Saint of Bleecker Street