Joseph Pulitzer and the Story of the Pulitzer Prize

In May 1904, Joseph Pulitzer wrote an article in The North American Review urging Columbia University to found a school of journalism. He endowed the university with $2 million, $500,000 of which was to be used to establish awards for excellence in writing. At first, Columbia was hesitant about accepting Pulitzer s endowment. But one year after his death in 1911, the Columbia School of Journalism was founded and the first Pulitzer Prizes were awarded in 1917. Those awards have come to represent the ultimate recognition in American journalism.