John Strohmeyer (June 26, 1924 – March 3, 2010) won the 1972

Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing The Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Journalism. It has been awarded since 1917 for distinguished editorial writing, the test of excellence being clearness of style, ...

for his editorial writing on reducing racial tensions in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton and Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Bethle ...

Early life and education

Strohmeyer was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

on June 26, 1924. After working as a night reporter for the now-defunct ''Bethlehem Globe-Times'' in

while attending

Moravian College Moravian University is a private university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The institution traces its history to girls' and boys' schools opened in 1742 by Moravians, descendants of followers of the Bohemian Reformation under John Amos Comenius. ...

, he spent three years in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, ultimately attaining the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

. A graduate of

Muhlenberg College Muhlenberg College is a private liberal arts college in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg College is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is named for Henry Muhlenberg, the German pat ...

(1947) and the

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sch ...

(1948), Strohmeyer was a

Nieman Fellow The Nieman Fellowship is a fellowship from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. It awards multiple types of fellowships. Nieman Fellowships for journalists The Nieman Fellowship is an award given to journalists by the Nieman ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

during the 1952–1953 academic year while employed by ''

The Providence Journal ''The Providence Journal'', colloquially known as the ''ProJo'', is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, the largest newspaper in Rhode Island, US. The newspaper was first published in 1829. The newspaper had won four ...

''.

Career

In 1956, Strohmeyer returned to

, where he served as editor of the ''Globe-Times'' until 1984. He won an Alicia Patterson Journalism Fellowship in 1984 to research and write about the decline of the American steel industry, a project that evolved into ''Crisis in Bethlehem: Big Steel's Struggle to Survive'', published by Adler & Adler in 1986 and

University of Pittsburgh Press The University of Pittsburgh Press is a scholarly publishing house and a major American university press, part of the University of Pittsburgh. The university and the press are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The press ...

in 1994. In 1992,

Robert Atwood Robert Bruce Atwood (March 31, 1907 – January 10, 1997) was an American journalist who served as the long-time editor and publisher of the '' Anchorage Times.'' He was also an early advocate of Alaska statehood. Biography Robert Bruce Atwo ...

recruited Strohmeyer to teach journalism at the

University of Alaska Anchorage The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) is a public university in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. UAA also administers four community campuses spread across Southcentral Alaska: Kenai Peninsula College, Kodiak College, Matanuska–Susitna C ...

in a position endowed by Atwood. While there, Strohmeyer wrote ''Extreme Conditions: Big Oil and the Transformation of Alaska''. Strohmeyer also wrote Atwood's biography, which was never published due to a dispute which arose after Atwood's death between Strohmeyer and Atwood's daughter Elaine.

Death

Strohmeyer died of heart failure on March 3, 2010, in

Crystal River, Florida Crystal River is a city in Citrus County, Florida, Citrus County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,396 in the 2020 census, up from 3,108 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Homosassa Springs, Florida Citrus County, Florida, Metrop ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strohmeyer, John Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing winners 1924 births 2010 deaths 20th-century American journalists American male journalists Journalism teachers Journalists from Boston Journalists from Pennsylvania People from Crystal River, Florida Writers from Anchorage, Alaska Writers from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania