CONWAY, Ark. (April 20, 2009) – Hendrix College alumnus Douglas A. Blackmon has received the Pulitzer Prize in general nonfiction for his book Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II. The 93rd annual Pulitzer prizes in journalism, letters, drama and music were announced today by Columbia University.
Blackmon, a native of Monticello, is presently the Atlanta Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal. He has written extensively on race, the economy, and American society, which led to his Pulitzer-winning book about the complex issues of race in American society. This groundbreaking book was published by Random House in 2005 and received positive reviews from sources such as the St. Louis Dispatch, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, and the New York Times, which wrote:
"...'Slavery by Another Name' becomes relentless and fascinating. It exposes what has been a mostly unexplored aspect of American history (though there have been dissertations and a few books from academic presses). It creates a broad racial, economic, cultural and political backdrop for events that have haunted Mr. Blackmon and will now haunt us all."
A 1986 graduate of Hendrix, Blackmon has written often on the social and economic changes to the global economy, with assignments covering the challenges of FedEx and the UPS strategies in China, South Africa's efforts to reconcile after apartheid and the war in Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia. The Journal's Atlanta bureau handles coverage of 10 southeastern states and more than 5,000 publicly traded companies based in the region. As a reporter, Blackmon's stories examining U.S. Steel Corp.'s use of slave labor in Alabama in the early 20th century were nominated by the Journal for a Pulitzer Prize in 2002.
Blackmon majored in English as an undergraduate at Hendrix. While visiting with students on campus last year, Blackmon emphasized the value of a liberal arts education – which he said teaches journalists how to analyze and interpret the events around them.
Hendrix, founded in 1876, is a selective, residential, undergraduate liberal arts college emphasizing experiential learning in a demanding yet supportive environment. The college is among 165 colleges featured in the 2008 edition of the Princeton Review America’s Best Value Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.