Lucinda Franks celebrates her and Thomas Powers' 1971 Pulitzer win with colleagues at UPI.
In celebration of the Pulitzer centennial, United Press International is paying tribute to the reporters, editors and photographers behind its prize-winning work. The wire service's journalists across the U.S. and around the world have been recognized by the Pulitzer Board multiple times. Now, at UPI.com, readers can find analyses, interviews with prize winners, and archived articles and photographs.
From Russell Jones’ 1957 International Reporting prize — for coverage of Soviet tanks rolling into Hungary and refugees fleeing westward in their wake — to Jahangir Razmi's image of a firing squad in Iran that won the 1980 Spot News Photography prize, the work captures critical moments in history.
UPI photographer Kyoichi Sawada poses with his Vietnam War photo "Flee to Safety" on Dec. 10, 1965, at the World Press Photo awards ceremony. Sawada won a Pulitzer Prize for News Photography for this and other war images in Vietnam. Photo courtesy Eric Koch / Anefo / Netherlands National Archives.
Lucinda Franks, who with Thomas Powers won the 1971 National Reporting prize, recently spoke to UPI about winning the award at age 25 for her stories about the domestic terror group known as the Weathermen.
Franks noted that it took time and finesse to get the group's members to open up to her. Once she traveled to a secret location with them, she began to piece together the multi-part series built around one young woman, Diana Oughton, that would win her the Pulitzer.
"In the end, they started smoking pot and that was an indication to me that they were warming up," Franks recalled.
"It's hard to explain to people who were not in that generation just how emotional it was. All we talked about was Vietnam. We read all the books. We were versed in the political history of Vietnam. I had been to many of the protest movements. Even in London, I was part of the London anarchist movement that was also marching against the Vietnam war," she said.
The newsroom at the time was less enthusiastic about the prize than she would have imagined, which Franks chalked up to her youth and gender.
"The day after the announcement, I strode in to the office expecting a few claps on the back, but instead, there was dead silence," she recalled. "Nobody even looked up. Nobody said a thing. They just ignored me."
For a rundown of UPI's prize-winning work over the years, follow this link:
Readers will find further details on Franks, Jones and Razmi, as well as Merriman Smith, who covered President Kennedy's assassination, Cuba correspondent Andrew Lopez, and more.