Pulitzer Board Snubs History Jury In Awarding Prize to Perry Miller

The Pulitzer Prize advisory board over-ruled a majority of the history jury in awarding the Pulitzer Prize for History to the late Perry G.E. Miller, it was disclosed Tuesday.

Pulitzers are awarded by a 14-man advisory board. For the history prize, the board receives recommendations from a three-member jury, which thoroughly investigates all candidates for the prize.

Two of the three members of the jury voted against awarding Miller, former Powell M. Cabot Professor of American Literature, the prize for his book "Life of the Mind in America: From the Revolution to the Civil War."

Mrs. Ralph Pulitzer, daughter-in-law of the founder of the prizes, and Henry Graff, chairman of Columbia University's History Department, backed Richard Morris, for his book "The Peacemakers: The Great Powers and American independence." Mrs. Pulitzer said Tuesday.

Only Oscar Handlin, Winthrop Professor of History and the third member of the jury, voted for Miller.

When the selection went to the advisory board, however, there was "no controversy involved" in the choice of Miller. Turner Catledge. Executive Editor of the New York Times and a board member, said in an interview with the CRIMSON yesterday. "One man might have been favored over the other, but both were proposed by the jury," he continued.

"This sort of thing happens frequently. In fact the board has completely thrown out all the jury's recommendations at times, and has chosen its own candidate," he added.

But Mrs. Pulitzer questioned the decision. Although the board may have wanted to honor Miller posthumously, she said "this is not what the prize is supposed to be."

Catledge disputed Mrs. Pulitzer's statemen. The board made its choice "strictly on the basis of scholarship," he said. "Miller's book is the one we think better."