Pulitzer100: If You Like the Truth

Lieutenant General George Crocker says that when he was first introduced to Rick Atkinson he was told, “If you like the truth, you’ll love Rick.” Over his long career as a journalist and historian, Atkinson has won three Pulitzer Prizes for works that he has written and edited. As part of the Pulitzer Centennial Campfire Initiative, we honor Rick Atkinson’s career, from Vietnam Veterans, WWII, and the Persian Gulf War to DC police shootings and the War in Iraq. His motto, he say, is on a little sign taped next to his desk: “Get On With It.”

Photographer Garry Winogrand has been called the “central photographer of his generation” Winogrand’s images captured the heartbreak, violence, and hope of postwar America. When he died suddenly three decades ago, he left behind more than 300,000 images unseen–until now. Waters is developing a documentary, All Things Are Photographable, about the life and work of Winogrand.

Historical dramas and reality history programs have become an increasingly popular way to engage with history. But do they really contribute to our understanding of the past? Landsberg says they might actually foster more holistic interpretation in viewers.