Pulitzer Prize for Reporting
Encyclopedia
The Pulitzer Prize
for Reporting was awarded from 1917 to 1947.
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
for Reporting was awarded from 1917 to 1947.
Winners
- 1917: Herbert Bayard SwopeHerbert Bayard SwopeHerbert Bayard Swope was a U.S. editor, journalist and intimate of the Algonquin Round Table. Swope spent most of his career at the New York World newspaper. He was the first and three time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Reporting...
, New York WorldNew York WorldThe New York World was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers...
, for articles which appeared October 10, October 15 and from November 4 daily to November 22, 1916, inclusive, entitled, "Inside the German Empire." - 1918: Harold A. Littledale of New York Evening Post, for a series of articles exposing abuses in and leading to the reform of the New Jersey State prison.
- 1919: No award given.
- 1920: John J. Leary, Jr.John J. Leary, Jr.John Joseph Leary, Jr. was a 1920 Pulitzer Prize winner for reporting for an editorial entitled "Law and the Jungle."-References:*...
of New York WorldNew York WorldThe New York World was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers...
, for the series of articles written during the national coal strike in the winter of 1919. - 1921: Louis Seibold of the New York World, for an interview with Woodrow WilsonWoodrow WilsonThomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
that was later exposed as fraudulent. - 1922: Kirke L. Simpson of Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, for articles on the burial of The Unknown SoldierTomb of the Unknown SoldierTomb of the Unknown Soldier refers to a grave in which the unidentifiable remains of a soldier are interred. Such tombs can be found in many nations and are usually high-profile national monuments. Throughout history, many soldiers have died in wars without their remains being identified...
. - 1923: Alva JohnstonAlva JohnstonAlva Johnston was a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author, and biographer.He started out at the Sacramento Bee in 1906. From 1912-1928, he wrote for The New York Times and from 1928-1932 for the New York Herald Tribune. From 1932 until his retirement, he wrote articles for The Saturday Evening...
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 reports of the proceedings of the convention of the American Association for the Advancement of ScienceAmerican Association for the Advancement of ScienceThe American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
held in Cambridge Mass, in December, 1922. - 1924: Magner White, San Diego Sun, for his story of the eclipse of the sun.
- 1925: James W. Mulroy and Alvin H. Goldstein of the Chicago Daily NewsChicago Daily NewsThe Chicago Daily News was an afternoon daily newspaper published between 1876 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.-History:The Daily News was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty in 1875 and began publishing early the next year...
, for their service toward the solution of the murder of Robert Franks, Jr., in Chicago on May 22, 1924, and the bringing to justice of Nathan F. Leopold and Richard LoebLeopold and LoebNathan Freudenthal Leopold, Jr. and Richard Albert Loeb , more commonly known as "Leopold and Loeb", were two wealthy University of Michigan alumni and University of Chicago students who murdered 14-year-old Robert "Bobby" Franks in 1924 and were sentenced to life imprisonment.The duo were...
. - 1926: William Burke MillerWilliam Burke MillerWilliam Burke "Skeets" Miller was a newspaper and radio reporter who first came to prominence with his on site reporting of the attempted rescue of caver Floyd Collins for Louisville's Courier-Journal, for which he received a Pulitzer Prize on May 4, 1926...
of the Louisville Courier-JournalThe Courier-JournalThe Courier-Journal, locally called "The C-J", is the main newspaper for the city of Louisville, Kentucky, USA. According to the 1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook, the paper is the 48th largest daily paper in the United States and the single largest in Kentucky.- Origins :The...
, for his work in connection with the story of the trapping in Sand CaveMammoth Cave National ParkMammoth Cave National Park is a U.S. National Park in central Kentucky, encompassing portions of Mammoth Cave, the longest cave system known in the world. The official name of the system is the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System for the ridge under which the cave has formed. The park was established...
, KentuckyKentuckyThe Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, of Floyd CollinsFloyd CollinsWilliam Floyd Collins was a celebrated pioneer cave explorer in central Kentucky, an area that is the location of hundreds of miles of interconnected caves, including the Mammoth Cave National Park...
. - 1927: John T. RogersJohn T. RogersJohn T. Rogers won the 1927 Pulitzer Prize for Reporting, based on his coverage of the inquiry leading to the impeachment of federal judge George W. English.-References:...
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 the inquiry leading to the impeachmentImpeachment in the United StatesImpeachment in the United States is an expressed power of the legislature that allows for formal charges against a civil officer of government for crimes committed in office...
of Judge George W. EnglishGeorge W. EnglishGeorge Washington English, Sr. was a United States federal judge.Born near Vienna, Illinois, English received an LL.B. from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1891. He was chief deputy sheriff of Johnson County, Illinois from 1891 to 1892. He engaged in the private practice of law in Vienna, Illinois...
of the U.S. Court for the Eastern District of Illinois. - 1928: No award given.
- 1929: Paul Y. AndersonPaul Y. AndersonPaul Y. Anderson was an American journalist. He was a pioneering muckraker and played a role in exposing the Teapot Dome scandal of the 1920s. His coverage included the 1917 race riots in East St. Louis and the Scopes Trial...
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 his highly effective work in bringing to light a situation which resulted in revealing the disposition of Liberty Bonds purchased and distributed by the Continental Trading Company in connection with naval oil leases. - 1930: Russell OwenRussell OwenRussell Owen was a U.S. journalist employed by the New York Times.Owen was a member of the First Byrd Antarctic Expedition of 1928-1930 from which he submitted graphic radio dispatches. In 1930 he won a Pulitzer Prize for Reporting for these efforts. In 1934 he published a book about the...
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 reports by radio of the Byrd Antarctic ExpeditionRichard Evelyn ByrdRear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd, Jr., USN was a naval officer who specialized in feats of exploration. He was a pioneering American aviator, polar explorer, and organizer of polar logistics...
. - 1931: A. B. MacDonaldA. B. MacDonaldA. B. MacDonald was a journalist for the Kansas City Star who won a Pulitzer Prize for Reporting in 1931 for "his work in connection with a murder in Amarillo, Texas." On that assignment, he "solved a murder mystery . ....
of the The Kansas City StarThe Kansas City StarThe Kansas City Star is a McClatchy newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri, in the United States. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes...
For his work in connection with a murder in Amarillo, TexasAmarillo, TexasAmarillo is the 14th-largest city, by population, in the state of Texas, the largest in the Texas Panhandle, and the seat of Potter County. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The population was 190,695 at the 2010 census...
. - 1932: W. C. Richards, D. D. Martin, J. S. Pooler, F. D. Webb and J. N. W. Sloan of 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 their account of the parade of the American LegionAmerican LegionThe American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
during the 1931 convention in Detroit. - 1933: Francis A. Jamieson of Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
for his prompt, full, skillful and prolonged coverage of news of the kidnapping of the infant son of Charles LindberghCharles LindberghCharles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
on March 1, 1932, from the first announcement of the kidnapping until after the discovery of the baby's body nearby the Lindbergh home on May 12. - 1934: Royce Brier of San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chroniclethumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
for his account of the lynching of the kidnappers, John M. Holmes and Thomas H. Thurmond in San Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
. On November 26, 1933 after they had been jailed for abducting Brooke HartBrooke HartBrooke Hart was the oldest son of Alexander Hart, the owner of L. Hart and Son Department Store in San Jose, California. His kidnapping and murder was reported throughout the United States, and the lynching of his alleged murderers, Thomas Harold Thurmond and John M...
, a merchant's son. - 1935: William Taylor of the New York Herald TribuneNew York Herald TribuneThe New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...
for the series of articles on the international yacht races. - 1936: Lauren D. Lyman 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 the exclusive story revealing that the Charles LindberghCharles LindberghCharles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
family was leaving the United States to live in England. - 1937: John J. O'NeillJohn J. O'NeillJohn Joseph O'Neill , of the New York Herald Tribune, along with William L. Laurence of the New York Times. Howard Blakeslee of AP, Gobind Behari Lal of Universal Service and David Dietz of Scripps-Howard, won the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for Reporting "for their coverage of science at the tercentenary...
, William L. LaurenceWilliam L. LaurenceWilliam Leonard Laurence was a Jewish Lithuanian born American journalist known for his science journalism writing of the 1940s and 1950s while working for the New York Times...
, Howard W. Blakeslee, Gobind Behari Lal and David Dietz of New York Herald TribuneNew York Herald TribuneThe New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...
, 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...
, APAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, Universal Service and Scripps-Howard, for their coverage of science at the Tercentenary of Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. - 1938: Raymond Sprigle of Pittsburgh Post-GazettePittsburgh Post-GazetteThe Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the "PG," is the largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.-Early history:...
for his series of articles, supported by photostats of the essential documents, exposing the one-time membership of Mr. Justice Hugo BlackHugo BlackHugo Lafayette Black was an American politician and jurist. A member of the Democratic Party, Black represented Alabama in the United States Senate from 1927 to 1937, and served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1937 to 1971. Black was nominated to the Supreme...
in the Ku Klux KlanKu Klux KlanKu Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
. - 1939: Thomas Lunsford StokesThomas Lunsford StokesThomas Lunsford Stokes, Jr. was a Pulitzer-prize winning American journalist.Thomas Stokes was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 1, 1898, to Thomas Stokes and Emma Layton, both descendants of colonial families...
of Scripps-Howard Newspaper Alliance for his series of articles on alleged intimidation of workers for the Works Progress AdministrationWorks Progress AdministrationThe Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
in Pennsylvania and Kentucky during an election. The articles were published in The New York World-Telegram. - 1940: S. Burton Heath of the New York World-TelegramNew York World-TelegramThe New York World-Telegram, later known as the New York World-Telegram and Sun, was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966.-History:...
for his expose of the frauds perpetrated by Federal judgeUnited States federal judgeIn the United States, the title of federal judge usually means a judge appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate in accordance with Article II of the United States Constitution....
Martin T. Manton, who resigned and was tried and imprisoned. - 1941: Westbrook PeglerWestbrook PeglerFrancis James Westbrook Pegler was an American journalist and writer. He was a popular columnist in the 1930s and 1940s famed for his opposition to the New Deal and labor unions. Pegler criticized every president from Herbert Hoover to FDR to Harry Truman to John F. Kennedy...
of the New York World-TelegramNew York World-TelegramThe New York World-Telegram, later known as the New York World-Telegram and Sun, was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966.-History:...
for his articles on scandals in the ranks of organized labor, which led to the exposure and conviction of George Scalise, a labor racketeerRacket (crime)A racket is an illegal business, usually run as part of organized crime. Engaging in a racket is called racketeering.Several forms of racket exist. The best-known is the protection racket, in which criminals demand money from businesses in exchange for the service of "protection" against crimes...
. - 1942: Stanton DelaplaneStanton DelaplaneStanton Hill Delaplane was a travel writer, credited with introducing Irish coffee to the United States...
of the San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chroniclethumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
for his articles on the State of Jefferson, the movement of several California and Oregon counties to secede to form a forty ninth state. - 1943: George WellerGeorge WellerGeorge Anthony Weller was an American novelist, playwright, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for The New York Times and Chicago Daily News...
of Chicago Daily NewsChicago Daily NewsThe Chicago Daily News was an afternoon daily newspaper published between 1876 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.-History:The Daily News was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty in 1875 and began publishing early the next year...
For his graphic story of how a U.S. Navy Pharmacist's Mate under enemy waters in a submarine performed an operation for appendicitis saving a sailor's life. - 1944: Paul Schoenstein and Associates of New York Journal AmericanNew York Journal AmericanThe New York Journal American was a newspaper published from 1937 to 1966. The Journal American was the product of a merger between two New York newspapers owned by William Randolph Hearst: The New York American , a morning paper, and the New York Evening Journal, an afternoon paper...
For a news story published on August 12, 1943, which saved the life of a two-year-old girl in the Lutheran Hospital of New York City by obtaining penicillin. - 1945: Jack S. McDowell of the San Francisco CallSan Francisco CallThe San Francisco Call was a newspaper that served San Francisco, California. Because of a succession of mergers with other newspapers, the paper variously came to be called The San Francisco Call & Post, the San Francisco Call-Bulletin, San Francisco News-Call Bulletin, and the News-Call Bulletin...
For his campaign to encourage blood donations. - 1946: William L. LaurenceWilliam L. LaurenceWilliam Leonard Laurence was a Jewish Lithuanian born American journalist known for his science journalism writing of the 1940s and 1950s while working for the New York Times...
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 eye-witness account of the atom-bombing of NagasakiAtomic bombings of Hiroshima and NagasakiDuring the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.For six months...
and his subsequent ten articles on the development, production, and significance of the atomic bomb. - 1947: Frederick Woltman of the New York World-TelegramNew York World-TelegramThe New York World-Telegram, later known as the New York World-Telegram and Sun, was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966.-History:...
for his articles during 1946 on the infiltration of Communism in the U.S.