6 Famous Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photos From History
The word “Pulitzer” immediately conjures prestige, integrity, and excellence — and that’s precisely the point. The Pulitzer Prize was established in 1917 as the brainchild of newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer, who sought to recognize outstanding works in various categories of journalism. Today, 23 awards are given out each year across not only journalism but also literature, music, drama, and more.
The Pulitzer Prize for photography was first awarded in 1942. In the winning entry, Detroit News photographer Milton Brooks captured an altercation between striking Ford Motor Company workers and someone attempting to cross the picket line. The image is visceral and captures a pivotal moment in labor history, and it met the Pulitzer rules of having been published in print (today the criteria also includes online publication). There is no other strict criteria to choose recipients of the prize. The juried process is instead a highly subjective one that often prioritizes moments of national or global importance — images that on their own tell compelling stories and stir emotions. Here are the stories of six famous photographs that have been awarded a Pulitzer Prize.
“The Rescue of Jessica McClure” by Scott Shaw
On October 16, 1987, after a harrowing 58-hour rescue mission, 18-month-old Jessica McClure was successfully rescued from an abandoned water well in Midland, Texas. The toddler, known affectionately as “Baby Jessica” by the millions who anxiously watched the ordeal unfold on live television, had fallen 22 feet deep into an 8-inch-wide opening while playing in her aunt’s backyard. Local emergency workers, drilling experts, and volunteers labored around the clock; when Jessica finally emerged, bruised and dirty but awake, America breathed a collective sigh of relief. Of the many photographers on site, Scott Shaw, staff photographer for the Odessa American newspaper, snapped an unforgettable photo of Baby Jessica wrapped in bandages and surrounded by her rescue team as they rushed her to an ambulance. The story — and the front-page image — became a powerful symbol of collective effort and resilience, and in 1988, Shaw’s photo won a Pulitzer Prize.
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“Babe Ruth Bows Out” by Nat Fein
Babe Ruth's home run records and larger-than-life personality made him baseball’s first true superstar and one of its most enduring icons. On June 13, 1948, Yankee Stadium hosted a celebration to not only mark the ballpark’s 25th anniversary but also retire the Great Bambino’s iconic No. 3 jersey. At the time, Ruth hadn’t played for the New York Yankees in more than a decade; more poignantly, he was dying of terminal throat cancer. When the Sultan of Swat made his way to home plate, photographers crowded the first baseline for the perfect shot of the legend who, with a baseball bat as a makeshift cane, appeared frail. Nat Fein, however, wanted to capture Ruth’s jersey number, which was only visible from behind. Though the longtime New York Herald Tribune photographer rarely covered sports — he was filling in for a sick colleague that day — his instincts were spot-on. Fein’s photo, which powerfully captured Ruth’s vulnerability and his No. 3 jersey, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1949. Ruth passed away two months after the famous photo was taken.
“Kiss of Life” by Rocco Morabito
Sometimes capturing a moment is a matter of chance. In July 1967, Jacksonville Journal photographer Rocco Morabito was on his way to cover a train strike in Jacksonville, Florida, when an unrelated sight caught his photographic eye: electrical linemen, working up high on utility poles, their silhouettes against the sky. Not wanting to miss his deadline, he continued on to his assignment, only to loop back to the linemen for some pictures when he was done. But as he approached, he noticed a commotion. Utility lineman Randall Champion had electrocuted himself and was dangling upside down from the power pole. As Champion’s co-worker J.D. Thompson sprang into action, climbing the pole and immediately beginning mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, Morabito followed his instinct and snapped a few quick pictures before rushing to call for help. The lineman regained consciousness and Morabito hurried back to the newspaper’s office to print his photos. The mouth-to-mouth photo ran on the front page with the caption “The Kiss of Life,” and after being picked up by the Associated Press, it became an international sensation. In 1968, Morabito won a Pulitzer for the photo, and in 2024, Thompson, the man who saved his co-worker, had a Jacksonville street named after him.
“Burst of Joy” by Slava Veder
After the Paris Peace Accord was signed in early 1973, ending the United States’ war in Vietnam, American prisoners of war began to return home. On one such momentous occasion, Slava Veder of the Associated Press was on the tarmac at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California. On March 17, when Lieutenant Colonel Robert Stirm returned home after being imprisoned in North Vietnam for almost six years, his 15-year-old daughter charged toward him, arms outstretched and face ecstatic; Stirm’s other children and wife followed closely behind her. The image, however joyful, was bittersweet: Just days before the reunion, Stirm had received a letter from his wife stating her intention to end their marriage. Still, “Burst of Joy” became one of the most recognizable images of the Vietnam War era, and in 1974, Veder’s picture-perfect moment won a Pulitzer Prize.
“Coretta Scott King” by Moneta Sleet Jr.
Photographer Moneta Sleet Jr. had a close relationship with Martin Luther King Jr. and his family. Sleet spent years covering the Civil Rights Movement at Ebony magazine, including the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, the 1963 March on Washington, and the pivotal 1965 events in Selma, Alabama. He also captured the day that King was laid to rest. On April 9, 1968, at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, Sleet snapped a strikingly sorrowful photo of King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, and their youngest daughter, Bernice, just days after King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1969, the photo won a Pulitzer Prize, making Sleet the first African American male to receive the award (Gwendolyn Brooks won for her poetry in 1950). But the photograph almost didn’t happen. Initially, Sleet didn’t get accredited to cover the funeral; when Coretta Scott King heard, she threatened to ban all media coverage if Sleet wasn’t allowed in.
“Serious Steps” by Paul Vathis
On April 22, 1961, President John F. Kennedy and former President Dwight D. Eisenhower met at Camp David in the aftermath of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, a disastrous mission planned by Eisenhower and carried out by his successor to overthrow Cuban leader Fidel Castro. The encounter, which marked Eisenhower's last visit to the presidential retreat, was attended by several members of the press. Associated Press photographer Paul Vathis captured an image of the two presidents walking together, heads down in serious conversation. The gravity of the photo matched the cultural moment: The failure embarrassed the Kennedy administration while further straining U.S. relations with Cuba. The somber photo struck a nerve, and in 1962, Vathis was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for the snap — one that Kennedy’s press secretary scolded the photographer for taking after the official photo op was over.
