SUMMARY Louis I. Jaffé was the longtime editor of the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot (1919–1950) who earned renown for his sponsorship and promotion of Virginia’s antilynching law. A lifelong liberal and civil rights activist, Jaffé championed reforms that sought to improve the daily lives of African Americans, especially those in Hampton Roads. In 1929, he became Virginia’s first Pulitzer Prize winner, receiving the award for Distinguished Editorial Writing for the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot‘s antilynching advocacy. Louis Isaac Jaffé was born, apparently in Detroit, Michigan, to Philip and Lotta Jaffe, orthodox Jewish immigrants from Lithuania. Around 1895 the Jaffes moved to Durham, North Carolina, where they operated a series of marginal businesses. Their residency in the thriving textile and tobacco town enabled their son to receive an excellent education at Durham High School and later at Trinity College (now Duke University), where he edited the campus newspaper.