Pulitzer, Joseph, 1885-1955

Pulitzer, Joseph, Jr. (21 March 1885–30 March 1955), editor and publisher, was born in New York City, the son of Joseph Pulitzer, founder of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and editor-publisher-owner of the New York World, and Kate Davis. With his two brothers and two sisters, he was reared according to practices of well-to-do New Yorkers at the turn of the twentieth century. Expelled from St. Mark’s Preparatory School in Southborough, Massachusetts, for drinking beer, Pulitzer attended Harvard University for three semesters, until his father removed him in 1906.

Joseph Pulitzer II took the reigns of the Post-Dispatch in 1911 and ran it for the next 43 years. Under his oversight, the paper and its staffers acquired 11 Pulitzer Prizes. A perfectionist, he personally supervised every department of the paper, but his heart was in the editorial page. The Post was also a huge financial success. He eliminated competition from the Star-Times by purchasing the paper. When he turned 60, Pulitzer threw a huge party and invited all the paper’s employees - 1,152 people - and about 100 former employees. He was proud to be an active newspaper man, and he once punched William Randolph Hearst for verbally attacking Joseph Pulitzer, Senior.

<p>He was the publisher of the Post Dispatch. His first marriage was to Elinor Wickham. His second marriage was to Elizabeth Edgar. He was the son of Joseph Pulitzer and Kate Davis.</p>