1939: Pulitzer Prizes

The Pulitzer Prizes in Letters and Journalism for 1938 were awarded May 1, 1939. The prizes, established in 1915 by the will of the late Joseph Pulitzer, are presented annually by the trustees of Columbia University acting upon recommendations by the Advisory Board of the Graduate School of Journalism.

The awards were made as follows: In Drama, Robert Emmet Sherwood's stirring and revealing Abe Lincoln in Illinois won the Pulitzer prize of $1,000 for 'an original American play, preferably dealing with American life.' This was the second Pulitzer award to Mr. Sherwood, who received the Drama prize in 1936 for Idiot's Delight. In Literature, the Pulitzer prize of $1,000 for 'a distinguished novel published during the year by an American author, preferably dealing with American life,' was awarded to 'The Yearling,' by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. This widely read book dealt in simple and moving fashion with a significant year in the life of a twelve-year-old boy. In Biography, 'Benjamin Franklin,' Carl Van Doren's penetrating study of the statesman and inventor, received the $1,000 Pulitzer prize for 'a distinguished American biography teaching patriotic and unselfish services to the people, illustrated by an eminent example, excluding as too obvious the names of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.' For 'a distinguished volume of Verse published during the year by an American author,' John Gould Fletcher's volume of 'Selected Poems' was awarded the $1,000 prize. In the field of History, the $1,000 prize went to 'A History of American Magazines,' by Frank Luther Mott, for 'a distinguished book of the year on the history of the United States.'

In Journalism, Thomas Lunsford Stokes of the Scripps-Howard Newspaper Alliance received the $1,000 prize for the best reporting of the year. The award was based specifically on his investigations of political intrigue in the Kentucky Works Progress Administration. Louis Paul Lochner, Berlin correspondent of the Associated Press, won the $500 prize for 'distinguished service as a foreign or Washington correspondent.' The $500 award for excellence in editorial writing was given to Ronald G. Callvert of The Portland Oregonian and with special mention of his editorial 'My Country Tis of Thee,' published Oct. 2, 1938. The Gold Medal annually awarded for 'the most disinterested and meritorious public service rendered by an American newspaper during the year,' was presented to The Miami (Fla.) Daily News. The award was given for a series of editorials, cartoons and news stories, concerning corrupt practices in the municipal government, which resulted in a grand jury indictment of three of the city's commissioners.

Charles George Werner of The Daily Oklahoman, of Oklahoma City, won the $500 prize for 'a distinguished example of a Cartoonist's work' with his cartoon, 'Nomination for 1938,' which depicted a grave with a headstone marked 'Czechoslovakia 1919-1938.' Across the grave was laid a document representing the Nobel Peace Prize.