Milton Brooks | |
---|---|
Born | St. Louis, Missouri US | August 29, 1901
Died | September 3, 1956 | (aged 55)
Other names | Pete |
Occupation | Photographer |
Milton E. "Pete" Brooks (August 29, 1901 – September 3, 1956) was the winner of the first Pulitzer Prize for Photography in 1942.[1]
Brooks was born in St. Louis. He was a stocky red-headed man with an ardent boating habit.[2] His father, James W. Brooks, was also a newspaper reporter and "desk man".[2] Brooks was a staff photographer for The Detroit News from 1928 to 1953.[3] Afterward, he became a commercial photographer.[3]
The photograph with which Brooks won the prize was called Ford Strikers Riot. It was taken during the 1941 workers' strike at a Ford manufacturing plant, and shows strikers beating a strikebreaker, who is trying to protect himself by pulling his coat over his head and face.[4]
Describing the circumstances surrounding the photo, Brooks said, "I took the picture quickly, hid the camera under my coat and ducked into the crowd. A lot of people would have liked to wreck that picture."[5]