Singer portrait of pulitzer is on display to mark the journalism most celebrated award. Well hear about the hungarian immigrant and about the prizes that carry his name. And well see a selection of Pulitzer Prizewinning photographs and learn the stories behind the images. My name is patty rhule and im the direct your of Exhibit Development here at the newseum here in washington, d. C. And were standing in the Pulitzer Prize photograph gallery which is one of the most popular and important galleries here at the newseum. The portrait behind me is the photograph of pulitzer who created the Pulitzer Prizes. He is also probably one of the foremost journalist and publishers of modern history. Joseph pulitzer is kind of an incredible american migrant success story. He was born in hungary and he came to the United States at age 17 to actually fight in lincolns cavalry during the civil war. And he had been rejected by several european armies. He had a bit of a sense of adventure and came here. Was not very happy in the army. But when the civil war ended, he roamed around a bit and landed in st. Louis where he he got a job as a reporter for a german language newspaper there. He subsequently purchased another german language newspaper there. Then kind of expanded a bit. Purchased the st. Louis newspaper, the st. Louis dispatch. Merged it with another newspaper and created a real powerful newspaper there in st. Louis. He then expanded his empire to new york. Taking over the new york world. Which at one point in time was the most read newspaper in the western world. He took its circulation and increased it tenfold in the time he was there in about a years time. Pulitzer is interesting because he didnt just interest the journalism of his time. What he instituted in newspapers are seen in newspapers today. That is why he is such a powerful force. Sensationalism is the one word that is often linked with Joseph Pulitzer and we think of sensationalism today as tabloid journalism but he was using it to right wrongs. He told stories in a very dramatic, clear way. So that his readers many of whom were migrants and werent very educated, possibly not even english language speakers, and he used illustrations and wood cuts. He didnt invent the use of wood cuts but he understood how much of a tool they could be. He increased Sports Coverage in newspapers. Sports coverage before that was primarily the sports of the elite. But pulitzer wasnt about communicating with the elite. He wanted mass circulation, massive numbers of people to read his papers and be informed by them. He also is did a lot for muck raking and challenging the people in powerm back in the 1880s, his newspapers did stories on police using their billy clubs against innocent civilians. Does that sound like anything happening today . Which is very interesting. He wrote he didnt personally write but he commissioned stories about a young woman a teenager in new jersey who died of a botched abortion. When a young girl accused an offduty Police Officer of raping her in a dance hall basement, pulitzers newspaper championed the girls story because the police man was going around bragging that his powerful friends would get him off. He helped support her mother and the Police Officer was convicted. So his use of sensationalism was a cause. Pulitzer was a very passional person andin sabrablely curious about things and had a bit of a nervous, um, i guess aspect to his life. He had vision problems. He had sort of these issues throughout his life. I mentioned that he had been rejected by several armies in europe that he tried to get into before he came to the United States to fight in the civil war for the union. His vision grew poor. He ultimately had to step back from his work as publisher of the new york world and the st. Louis papers in about 1890. But he still continued to have his force felt and to sort of be managing from afar. So it was a part that made his work very difficult for him at times. Sergeant is the foremost portrait painter of the late 19th century and the early 20th century so he is the person who is painting portraits of the powerful, the influential and the prominent people of the time. So the fact that he paints pulitzer is a very powerful statement to pulitzers lasting importance in our society. You can see in the portrait, you look at one eye and it kind of seems like the eye is clouded so you get a hint of the vision problems that he was having throughout his life. Some people say he looks devilish and angelic at the same time. So there are interesting juxtapositions in his life. His passion for his newspapers, his passion for communication that you can draw your own conclusions from that artistic interpretation of him. Pulitzer always has a passion for drawing the best journalists and having some sort of a way to highlight the best in journalism. In a period in his life he was in a newspaper war and his newspaper and the newspaper that he was sort of fighting against circulation war were exaggerating things to the point where they may not have been true. Joseph pulitzer comes to regret that aspect of his career and so perhaps that is why he decides one of his legacies will be the creation of the columbia journalism school, one of the foremost in the country and also the Pulitzer Prizes where he wants to highlight the power, the best of journalism. So the first prizes were awarded in 1917 for work done in 1916. 1942, Pulitzer Prize photography is added. In 1968, an additional category is added for photo journalism and you see here in this gallery the results of the Pulitzer Prize highlighting the incredible store yeses that photo journalisms have done. I would say the greatest legacy is the way he brought newspapers to a mass audience. It is all about communicating and getting information to people. He didnt feel like he should be writing just for the bankers or the lawyers in society. He wanted to get his message and information to the masses of people, the working men and women crowding the cities after the civil war for work opportunities. So he created newspapers that did just that. The communication of the people. With images and cartoons. With Sports Coverage. With muck raking and challenging the powerful. All of these things are the things that we value in our newspapers and websites and blogs today. My name is indira babic and im the director of photography resources here at the museum. We are at the pulitzer gallery and here you could see every single image that has ever won a Pulitzer Prize. We have 40 imanls displayed along images displayed along the walls. We are able to see all of the other images through the thumbnail wall display and our interactive kiosks. We also have a theater experience where people can see and can hear the photographers themselves speaking about the photographs and how they made them and the story behind the story. The photograph tragedy at sea won the Pulitzer Prize in 1955. The photographer john gant was working for the l. A. Times. Mr. Gant was at home when one of his neighbors alerted him that something was going on at the beach. He grabs his camera and he walks over and finds these he find this is couple that are looking for their 2yearold son. The little boy had been playing in their backyard and somehow he got out and they realized now that hes gone into the water. And hes nowhere to be found. Gant takes the photograph, grabs the film, heads to the street, gives it to a bus driver and gives him 5 and tells him go and take these to the l. A. Times. And so he wins the pulitzer for this image. We know that most of the pulitzer images have immediate and lasting emotional impact. And because were all different, things impact us differently. However, this image right here has a universal emotional impact, because just like mr. Gant, who had a little child about the same age, parents in particular find this image very, very impactful. Because these this brings out in us a visceral fear as well as deep compassion. The sinking of the andrea dorria wins the Pulitzer Prize in 1957. The photographer, harry trask, was working for the boston traveller. The passengers of the andrea dorria were enjoying the very last night at sea as they were on board of the italian cruise liner. They were playing cards and they were dancing and enjoying their last night. At some point during the night, the radar identified another ship, the stockholm. But it tells both ships they should be perfectly fine passing one another according to the radar. But something goes really, really wrong. Stockholm runs into the andrea dorria and a 40 foot hole is made on to the andrea dorria and it starts sinking. Of course, chaos ensues. Passengers are starting to get loaded into the life boats and most of the passengers are rescued, although 51 people do die at this disaster. Mostly at the moment of impact. So next day, of course the press starts trying to cover what is happening as the ship is sinking. However, mr. Trask engages the help of a private pilot and he does a flyover to see the ship as it is beginning to sink. The conditions are not very good and mr. Trask is not a very good flier. And he starts getting violently air stick. But he decides he will stick with it and make the shot. And he pulls himself together and starts photographing and then he started looking down, the ship starts effectively sinking with a very last time, going down into the waters. And he captures that photo. And this is how the tardy, airsick photographer, catches the Pulitzer Prize. And here is the newseum is very far not to count among its collection the original camera used to photograph the Pulitzer Prizewinning image, sinking of the andrea dorria and the original negatives are in the newseum collection. Faith and confident wins the Pulitzer Prize in 1958. The photographer William Beale worked for the washington daily news. He was a marine combat photographer and part of the same unit where Joe Rosenthal was. And of course we all know he photographed that amazing image of the five marines and navy corpmen raising the American Flag up on mt. Sirabicha in iwo jima. But he wasnt able to see what was going on or have the opportunity to capture the image. However, ten plus years after that, his opportunity came. He was sent by his paper to cover a parade in chinatown. And so as hes looking around, he realizes it is a big parade and out of the corner of his eye he noticed this little boy, tiny little boy looking at a policeman who is just bent down talking to him. What we cant see is that behind the policeman there is a very large dragon that is part of the parade and there are lots of fire crackers all over the ground. And so the policeman is just trying to warn, very gently, that tiny little boy to just be careful because the fire crackers are everywhere. And hes just trying to make sure that hes safe. So William Beale makes the photograph. The police the policeman becomes the police chief in washington, d. C. The little boy stays away from the fire crackers, does not get hurt. He grows up and his family moves with him to california and he ends up working in the entertainment industry. And so, you know, these beautiful, beautiful images captures and freezes in time a moment of innocence in a little childs life. Two men with a problem won the Pulitzer Prize in 1962. The photographer paul davis works for the associated press. It is early in 1961 and a Young Kennedy administration is in trouble. After the disastrous invasion of bay of pigs, fidel castro is very, very angry. Nickeda crush e is pushing his advantage and the American People are beginning to doubt the ability of mr. Kennedy to lead the country. So he seeks counsel with former president eisenhower. And they meet at camp david. The press is invited to make some photographs of these meetings. And there are a lot of photographers there doing the coverage. Salinger, the press secretary for mr. Kennedy is in charge of the whole event. And he lets everyone do what they need to do and then eventually he just shuts it down. He closes the lid, as he says. And so the reporters start going and everyone is starting to leave. But mr. Vega is at the very beginning of the pack. And as hes crouching down, picking up his materials, he looks and he hears eisenhower telling kennedy, i know somewhere where we can go and talk. And as hes looking, he sees the picture. He sees the image that he does. But he also realizes, that in order to make the picture that hes seeing, that would be in between the legs of a secret Service Agent that was standing right next to him. So the secret Service Agent was went by the nickname of moose. So he goes, moose, spread your legs. And moose says, no, i cant do that. Salinger said the lid is closes. Moose, just spread your legs. I have a picture here. Do it. So moose just goes and spreads his legs. He takes the picture and the Pulitzer Prize image is captured. And as you could see it captures two men with a problem. Two men with the weight of the world on their shoulders. Jack ruby shoots lee harvey oswald. Wins the pulitzer in 1964. The photographer, Robert Jackson, works for the dallas times herald. The assassination of president kennedy is burned into the consciousness of most americans of a certain age. And Robert Jackson had a been working with the paper for three years and part of the motorcade covering that visit of president kennedy to dallas. As he he is near the book repozitiory, mr. Jackson goes down and he starts changing his film. All of a sudden he hears a couple of shots. And he looks around and he hears three shots and looks up and sees a rifle being re treated from the window of the book repozityory and hes sitting there on the ground with an empty camera. So he misses covering that historic part of the story. However, mr. Jackson continues to cover the story throughout the weekend and he learns that on sunday oswald is going to be taken to the city jail. And so he goes and of course hes not the only journalist covering the press. Jack beers is there among others. And as they position themselves to be waiting, they hear hes coming in, hes coming in. And theyre all ready. Mr. Jackson prefocused to make sure he gets some sort of image. All of a sudden he feels someone gets right in front of him and passes right by him. And first thing he thinks is that, this person is going to get in front of my shot. And he gets a little you know, miffed about it. He is still ready. All of a sudden, he hears these shots. And at the same time it seems that he hears the shot, he hits the shutter and he makes the shot. And ruby has just hit lee harvey oswald. And now there is chaos and there is a lot of questioning, the policeman are questioning the press, trying to get everyone out of the area and it is just pandemonium. But somehow they all make it out. He runs to the paper. And as he gets to the paper and he hands over his film, its become apparent that other photographs were made that day. And jack beers photo is already hitting the wires. So his boss asked him, do you have anything like this, that looks like this. And he said, well i dont know. Lets take a look. And of course, this is one of the perfect examples of what makes a pulitzer image. A pulitzer image. Because a lot of reporters can be at one spot, making trying to make the same image and trying to capture the same scene. But there is only one pulitzer and in this particular situation this is it. Moment of reflection wins the pulitzer in 1977. The photographer, robin hood, worked for the Chattanooga Free press. Mr. Hood was a veteran. He served in the vietnam war and because of that, he was able to connect, feel a connection when he noticed these veterans and he could see that there was an image to be made. By the spring of 1976, the vietnam war was over. But its effect was deeply entrenched in the lives and the minds of the American People. Some people took something from the war, and some people lost something because of the war. Our photographer, mr. Hood, came back to the u. S. With a new trade. He had become a photographer. The person here that we could see here in the picture lost something during the war. He lost his legs. And so the photographer is sent by the paper to cover an Armed Forces Day parade. And as hes walking around, he noticed a group of tiny vietnamese children that are witnessing the parade. He takes a couple of photographs an they are all very cute and they look very, very happy and enjoying their freedom and the beautiful day. When he turns around and he just looks and he noticed this veteran. He is obviously in a wheelchair. He is wearing his army fatigues. Hes wearing his army poncho, because it is raining a little bit. And hes holding his twoyearold son. He is visibly moved. There are tears running down his face. And he connects with this veteran because they are both veterans. And theyve both been there. And then he is so impresence so taken by the emotional impact of the image, he makes the photo and he does walk over to the subject, he speaks with him and then he finds out why is he crying. And it is because he used to be a Football Player when he was in high school. And at that particular time, his High School Band was marching by right in front of him. And that just moved him to tears. Blitz runs new england wins the pulitzer in 1979. And this award is giving to the staff of the Boston Herald american. Photographer kevin cole is faced with one of the worst storms hes ever had to cover. And hes determined to get good images of it. He charters a small plane and in these conditions where all of the businesses are closed, all of the schools are closed, there is snow everywhere, everything is completely covered. Hes still determin