Scope and Content Note
The papers of Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911) span the years 1880-1924 and cover the later years of his life. Letters and telegrams from Pulitzer to his staff, Dan Carlos Seitz, John Norris, and Frank Irving Cobb, make up the largest part of the collection. The letters and memoranda are arranged in chronological order from 1880 to 1911, and there are a few letters and a copy of his will after 1911. At the end of the collection is a miscellany file including newspaper clippings and reports, apparently the opinions of Pulitzer on topics ranging from Venezuela to the “rest cure.”
There are several commentaries on political matters by Pulitzer in the correspondence, but more often in memoranda or critiques of editorials. Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), William H. Taft, and William Jennings Bryan are most mentioned, as are Nelson W. Aldrich, George B. Cortelyou, and Charles Phelps Taft. Most of the newspaper clippings in the miscellany concern the death of Pulitzer. Included also is a file on the New York World concerning Roosevelt’s authorization to purchase Panama Canal rights and the subsequent dispute between Pulitzer and Roosevelt in the press.