Pulitzer_ A Life in Politics, Print, and Power - James McGrath Morris [266]
The bulk of Pulitzer’s papers and those of the World are kept at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Columbia University. Director Michael Ryan, Jennifer B. Lee, Tara C. Craig, Kevin O’Connor, and the entire staff provided exceptional assistance. The second largest holding of Pulitzer papers is the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, where Jeffrey M. Flannery was a constant help. At the Missouri Historical Society, Jason D. Stratman not only assisted me during my many visits but responded for years to my e-mail queries.
Eric P. Newman, founder of the Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society in St. Louis, graciously made me a copy of a loan from Preetorius to Pulitzer to buy shares of the Westliche Post. Pat and Leslie Fogarty, who discovered a cache of previously unknown Pulitzer documents, kindly let me examine them for the preparation of this book. Journalist Eric Fettmann shared with me a letter from Nannie Tunstall to Pulitzer. It played a pivotal role in being able to properly date the romantic relationship between the two. The late Muriel Pulitzer, a remarkable artist, permitted me to use her grandfather’s memoirs. Her nephew Nicholas W. Wood, of Arlington, Texas, made it possible for me to meet Muriel. I also owe a great deal of thanks to Emily Rauh Pulitzer and James V. Maloney, Chief Financial Officer of the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, for their assistance and interest in the project.
Roman scholar Susanna Braund helped me try to track down an important allusion made by David Graham Phillips. Alexandra Villard de Borchgrave permitted me to use her files relating to Henry Villard. Dr. Edward Okum, who had treated Joseph Pulitzer’s grandson for eye troubles, sorted out important questions regarding Pulitzer’s blindness. Dr. Edwin Carter once again provided me with important psychological insights into my subject. Eric Homberger, author of Mrs. Astor’s New York: Money and Social Power in a Gilded Age, gave me important advice on dealing with the anti-Semitism that confronted Pulitzer in New York City.
Jason Baker did yeoman’s work in translating German documents for me. I am also grateful for his insights about Pulitzer’s work at the Westliche Post. Baker was assisted by Rick Strudell, who managed to decipher nineteenth-century German penmanship. Cornelia Brooke Gilder helped me with research in the Berkshires. Jude Webre completed important fact-checking in the Columbia University holdings of Pulitzer papers. Elizabeth Elliott chased down elusive information on Tunstall in Lynchburg, Virginia. Charles Litchfield and Nancy Ross, two high school students, served as editorial interns in 2004 and 2005.
Tripp Jones, archivist, the Church of the Epiphany, went out of his way to provide me with insights into both the role of his church at Joseph and Kate’s wedding as well as that of Joseph’s relationship with the Episcopal Church as a whole. David G. Hardin and Keitha Leonard, both attorneys, assisted me in interpreting estate and business matters. The law firm of Ropes & Gray represented me pro bono in my Freedom of Information dispute with the Department of Justice, and Stephen M. Underhill, a graduate student from the University of Maryland working at the National Archives, helped locate the 1909–1910 Pulitzer prosecution records.
A large cast of people in libraries, archives, and universities from Budapest to St. Louis went out of their way to assist me. Specific individuals include: Jill Abraham, at the National Archives, who helped locate military records on Pulitzer, whose name was spelled several different ways, making it hard to locate some of the items; Wanda Adams, Leavenworth Public Library; Marisa Bourgoin of the Corcoran Art Gallery; Christine M. Beauregard, New York State Library; Joseph Fred Benson, Supreme Court of Missouri; Stephen Bolhafner, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Frederick W. Brunello, New York Times Corporate Records; Michael DeArmey, University of Southern Mississippi; Jill Gage, Newberry Library; Judy Garrett, Berkshire Historical Society;