Matthew Lewis (March 8, 1930 – October 2, 2024) was an American

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (suc ...

who won a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

for his 1975 work with ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''.

Life and career

Lewis was born in

McDonald, Pennsylvania McDonald is a borough in Allegheny and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, southwest of Pittsburgh. The population was 2,056 at the 2020 census. Of this, 1,661 were in Washington County, and 395 were in Allegheny County. G ...

, on March 8, 1930. He later moved to Washington, D.C. in 1947. He attended college at

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

in 1947 for a year and then continued at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

the next year before he dropped out. From 1949 to 1952, Lewis served as a hospital corpsman for the United States Navy. Lewis received his first job at

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a Public university, public historically black colleges and universities, historically black research university in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically bla ...

where he worked in the audio visual department. Lewis freelanced for the ''

Baltimore Afro-American The ''Baltimore Afro-American'', commonly known as ''The Afro'' or ''Afro News'', is a weekly African-American newspaper published in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the flagship newspaper of the ''AFRO-American'' chain and the longest-running Africa ...

'' before getting a job with ''The Washington Post'' in 1965 as a staff photographer. He was eventually promoted to assistant managing editor of photography where he covered Civil Rights marches, Super Bowls, and John F. Kennedy's funeral. He was the first African-American photographer to work for ''The Washington Post''. Lewis retired in 1990, and moved with his wife Jeannine to

Thomasville, North Carolina Thomasville is a city in Davidson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 27,183 at the 2020 census. The city was once notable for its furniture industry, as were its neighbors High Point, North Carolina, High Point and Lexington ...

. He began working at the ''

Thomasville Times ''For the daily newspaper of Thomasville, GA, see Thomasville Times-Enterprise.'' ''Thomasville Times'' is a bi-weekly newspaper that primarily covers Thomasville, North Carolina, United States and eastern Davidson County. The newspaper, founde ...

'' in 1990 to keep himself occupied. Lewis died on October 2, 2024, at the age of 94.

Awards

In 1975, Lewis was awarded the

Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography The Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography is one of the American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It recognizes a distinguished example of feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature recognition, could be a hole, poc ...

"for his photographs in color and black and white." These photos portrayed various aspects of "the Washington lifestyle." Lewis won first place in the White House News Photographers Association competitions in 1968 and 1971 In 2010, the International Civil Rights Center & Museum honored Lewis during a special tribute and public reception.

References

External links

"Documenting the Riots", ''The Washington Post'', April 3, 2008"Matthew Lewis", ''Washington Photo Store''2011 PBS Interview with Matthew Lewis

Life and career

Awards

References

Further reading

External links

See also