OXFORD,
Miss. – “Capture the Moment: The Pulitzer Prize Photographs,” the
largest and most comprehensive display of Pulitzer Prize-winning
photographs ever shown in the United States, opens Wednesday (April 22)
at the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics at the
University of Mississippi. The photographs are to be on display through
July 3.
The exhibition features 138 images drawn from each
year’s winning entries from 1941 – the first year a photograph was
eligible for the prestigious award – up to and including the
award-winning 2008 image of a Japanese videographer fatally wounded
during a demonstration in Myanmar.
“The Pulitzer photo gallery is one of the most popular attractions in the Newseum,” said Charles L. Overby, the Newseum’s chief executive officer. “We are delighted the exhibit can be on display at Ole Miss.”
A formal opening of the exhibit is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the center, with a panel discussion about the photographers and the fascinating stories behind their award-winning photos. Panelists will include Ken Crawford, a Newseum producer who has interviewed more than 50 Pulitzer Prize-winning photographers, and Susan Bennett, a Newseum vice president and veteran reporter who covered the South for UPI. Overby will moderate the discussion, which is free and open to the public. A reception will follow.
The exhibit includes dramatic and poignant news and feature photographs, including Jack R. Thornell’s photo of a wounded James Meredith crying out in pain (1967 Pulitzer); Joe Rosenthal’s World War II photo of the raising of the flag by U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima (1945 Pulitzer); the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (2006 Pulitzer); and Nathaniel Fein’s shot of Babe Ruth watching his number retired at Yankee Stadium (1949 Pulitzer).
“Capture the Moment” also includes photos of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events. Some are tragic, such as Stanley Forman’s 1975 photo of a woman and child falling from a broken fire escape during a Boston fire. Others are just short of miraculous, including a 1953 photograph by Virginia Schau – the first woman and second amateur to be honored – of the rescue of two men from the cab of a tractor-trailer as the truck hangs precariously off a bridge.
A dozen photographs relate to World War II, Korea and Vietnam, including Nick Ut’s image of a young girl – clothes burned off by napalm – running toward the camera.
Domestic and social issues also can be found throughout. The first Pulitzer Prize was awarded for a photograph of a picket line fight during a 1941 United Auto Workers’ strike in Detroit.
The exhibition has been seen by more than 2 million visitors in museums and history centers across the country, including the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, Washington State History Museum and Minnesota History Center. The Newseum developed the traveling exhibit with Business of Entertainment, Inc., New York, with Cyma Rubin as curator.
For more information or for assistance related to a disability, contact Dawn Jeter at 662-915-1692.