Celebrity Graveland

April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911

Sporting one of the most famous surnames in American history, Hungarian-born Joseph Pulitzer is best remembered as a newspaper publisher and for the annual prizes that bear his name. He also, briefly. represented the state of New York in the U.S. House of Representatives. The publishing battles between Pulitzer and rival, William Randolph Heart, paved the way for the modern, ad-driven, multi-faceted newspaper industry. He got his start as a penniless vagabond in St. Louis after the American Civil War. By way of a job with a rail company, he began reporting for the Westliche Post. He worked his way up the ranks and eventually bought and sold shares in the paper – making a decent profit. This led to his purchase of the St. Louis Post and St. Louis Dispatch papers. He combined the two and went on to purchase the New York World as well. Pulitzer’s flair for human interest stories and championing of the common man made his papers extremely popular. And, added to his wealth. Multiple health issues eventually forced him to step aside from the day to day of the papers, but he remained a manager from afar. He died aboard his yacht in South Carolina at the age of 64. The money he left to Columbia University funded the Pulitzer Prizes in photography, journalism, literature, poetry, history, drama and music, which are, of course, still given out today.

Burial

Woodlawn Cemetery – Bronx NY

Specific Location

Evergreen Plot; The large, unmistakable Pulitzer family plot is located just north of Central Ave. at the southern end of this section.

This entry was posted on April 1, 2014 at 8:10 am and is filed under Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx) with tags Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.