Palm Beach Post’s Pulitzer Prize is 40

Forty years ago this week, this newspaper won its first and, so far, only Pulitzer Prize. It was for feature photography, for Dallas Kinney’s photographs from the series, Migration to Misery.

Kinney (above) and reporter Kent Pollock documented the hardships of migrant workers who struggled in the fields from North Carolina to the Glades.

“Shocked would be a bad word,” Pollock recently said of the conditions he reported.

“What I saw was an opportunity to speak to people that know what Palm Beach is like and, without even saying so, contrast this other lifestyle within spitting distance,” Pollock said.

The Palm Beach Post, acquired only a year earlier by Cox Enterprises, was heavily criticized for the eight-day series, published in October 1969. Critics said it sensationalized conditions. Readers dropped subscriptions.

And some of those written about expressed bitterness when they saw pictures of Kinney and Pollock celebrating with champagne while people’s lives in the Glades were unchanged.

“That still hurts,” Kinney said recently. But, he said, “I wanted that community to have new eyes as far as who their neighbors in the Glades were.”

Kinney left the Post to document the lives of American Indians, then went to the Philadelphia Inquirer, returned briefly to the Post, ran a weekly in Sanibel, worked for the Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia and ran a Christian communications business in Mesa, Ariz. He now is a lecturer and consultant in Dahlonega, Ga., north of Atlanta.

Pollock went to the Philadelphia Inquirer, owned a small California weekly, ran a chain of weeklies, and eventually went to the Sacramento Bee, where at one point he oversaw some 200 people. He’s now a political consultant and a journalism professor at Sierra College in Rocklin in Northern California.

Now, most would agree, conditions are far better, but for many, still not acceptable.

“Sadly, it’s an occupation built for exploitation. That’s the sad fact. But we do like our cheap vegetables,” Kinney said.

Reporter Kent Pollock pours champagne on photographer Dallas Kinney in celebration of Kinney winning a Pulitzer Prize. (Palm Beach Post file photo)

Tags: awards, newspapers

This week in history: The Palm Beach Post wins a Pulitzer

On May 4, 1970, Palm Beach Post photographer Dallas Kinney was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in feature photography for his photographs of the poverty and poor working conditions of farm workers in the Glades in the Migration to Misery series. Later that month the Florida legislature passed a bill creating a state migrant labor commission.

Reporter Kent Pollock pours champagne on photographer Dallas Kinney in celebration of Kinney’s award. (Palm Beach Post file photo)

Dallas Kinney/Palm Beach Post file photo

Tags: newspapers, This Week in History

New Web site opens Post archives to readers

We’re celebrating a decade of Post Time columns! We couldn’t have done it without you. We also are celebrating the success of our Web site, HistoricPalmBeach.com. Here’s a guest column by staff researcher Michelle Quigley, who’s been the key player in creating and marketing the Web site:

Newspaper libraries used to be called morgues, but news libraries are more than places where newspapers go to die and never be heard from again. Reporters and editors use historic clips, photos and microfilm for background research, because understanding the past is part of covering the news that’s happening today. Until now, access to those clips and photos has been limited to newspaper staff.

A few months ago The Palm Beach Post launched HistoricPalmBeach.com, a Web site dedicated to showcasing the people, places and events that form our heritage. We’re using the site to bring you the wealth of content in nearly a century’s worth of words and pictures from The Palm Beach Post, The Palm Beach Daily News, The Palm Beach Times, The Miami News and other South Florida publications.

In recent weeks, the Flashback blog on HistoricPalmBeach.com has featured 1970s photos of the Palm Beach Mall, the groundbreaking at the South Florida Science Museum and a look back at historic hurricanes. Dozens of readers have shared their memories on the Your History page and uploaded photos to YourPix, the Post’s photo sharing site.

Also on HistoricPalmBeach.com you’ll find every Post Time column from the past 10 years, the contents of Palm Beach Post history publications, historic documentaries produced by The Education Network, and a photo archive of hundreds of historic photos and postcards.

And best of all, now you can search microfilm of The Palm Beach Post, The Palm Beach Daily News and other historic south Florida newspapers on Google at news.google.com/archivesearch/advanced_search. We’ve partnered with Google News Archive to make it possible to search, browse and share the history available in nearly 100 years of local news.

So take a stroll down memory lane at HistoricPalmBeach.com. Click on the “E-mail Us” link to drop us a line. We’d love to hear from you!

Tags: newspapers

Jan. 1, 1945: Unauthorized front page opining results in Page 1 apology

On Jan. 2, 1945, the editors of The Palm Beach Post apologized on the front page.

Sixty-five years ago today, D.L. Whitehurst, a copy desk assistant, was put in charge of the New Year’s Eve skeleton crew.

He took advantage by placing on the front page a blistering 21-paragraph attack on the “haves” of both and the nation, suggesting they had not shouldered their fair burden of the war in which America had given blood and fortune, now for three years.

“And so last night did that part of Americanism which is so ready to fight a war that knows no mud, no gaping, oozing wounds, no dying buddies, no fear of death that often turns to hope, celebrate the   coming of the New Year,” Whitehurst wrote in part.

“Over on the Palm Beach side the scene was the same. A few more evening clothes, a few more diamonds; little more accent, a few more fakes. Over there a war was being fought from the wave washed sands of a placid resort. Over there too were men who know how war puts terror in timid hearts, but they were there not to talk about it. They had been in combat — with their draft boards. They had won. They had their stripes — deferment stripes. They were glad. They said toasts to their stand-ins — the Yanks in the tanks. They wondered when all the killing would be over and got drunk doing it.”

The front page apology insisted, “These newspapers KNOW what the Palm Beaches have done to help the war effort. We know also of the sons who have given   their lives in the war. We feel certain that there has been in these communities less than average complacency about the war and its sacrifices.”

The note might tend to bolster the idea of sacred cow institutions such as the Post dared not criticize.

Agree or not with Mr. Whitehurst, his work belonged on the opinion page, with management’s approval.

And, as the editor’s note explained, it led to the expected result: “Naturally, Mr. Whitehurst does not continue to work here.”

Click on the images above to see the 1945 front pages of The Palm Beach Post.

Tags: newspapers

The Post introduces new history web site

Today’s column is a shameless plug for our history-themed Web page.

With an archive rich with both stories and photos, The Palm Beach Post has launched www.historicpalmbeach.com, dedicated to telling the history of Palm Beach County and the region.

Among the features:
Hundreds of historic photos from The Post archives and The Associated Press.
Historic, full-length documentary videos from The Education Network.
An area for readers to submit their own photos and stories.
A selection of historic Post e-cards readers can personalize and send.
And, a searchable archive of every Post Time column.

There also are plans to add an archive featuring The Post stories dating to 1916, the newspaper’s first year.

And while we’re on the subject of local history, don’t forget to order Palm Beach County at 100: Our History, Our Home, produced by The Post and the Historical Society of Palm Beach County.

The 304-page hardcover book is the official history book of the county, which turns 100 this year.

Sections include:
How Palm Beach County grew: A timeline of progress
How we work and how we play: businesses and entertainment venues unique to Palm Beach County
Life on the water: Photos and memories through the years on the beach, fishing and water sports
Celebrities: The Kennedys, The Vanderbilts and The Trumps. How the world’s richest people define Palm Beach style
The homes: Historic neighborhoods and the county’s mansions and distinctive home styles
The sports: From baseball to polo

Full of photographs and memories from longtime residents, it’s sure to be a keepsake. Price: $45 plus tax, shipping and handling. Order at gallerypalmbeach.com.

The book publishes Nov. 1.

Finally, History Press has published Wicked Palm Beach. Like Palm Beach Past, also published by History Press, it’s a collection of Post Time columns, along with some larger history features that have run in the Post over the years. It is available at area bookstores and online.

Tags: newspapers