Immigrant of the Day: Joseph Pulitzer (Hungary)

Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911) was a publisher best known for posthumously establishing the Pulitzer Prizes.

Pulitzer was born in Makó, Hungary He immigrated to the United States in 1864 to serve in the American Civil War.  After the war he settled in St. Louis, Missouri, he studied law and was admitted to practice in Missouri.

In 1868, Pulitizer, began working for a German language daily newspaper, the Westliche Post. Pulitzer purchased the Post for $3,000, and then sold his stake in the paper for a profit in 1873. Then, in 1879, he bought the St. Louis Dispatch, and the St. Louis Post and merged the two papers, which became the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. It was at the Post-Dispatch that Pulitzer developed his role as a champion of the common man with exposés and a hard-hitting populist approach.

In 1882 Pulitzer purchased the New York World. Pulitzer shifted its focus to human-interest stories, scandal, and sensationalism.  Under Pulitzer's leadership, the circulation of the New York World grew from 15,000 to 600,000, making it the largest newspaper in the country.

In 1885, Pulitzer was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, but resigned after a few months' service.

Pulitzer left Columbia University $2 million in his will, which led to the creation in 1912 of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism remains one of the most prestigious in the world. 

KJ