William M. Gallagher

William M. Gallagher
Born(1923-02-26)February 26, 1923
Hiawatha, Kansas
DiedSeptember 28, 1975(1975-09-28) (aged 52)
OccupationPhotographer
Known forPhotograph of presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson II

William M. Gallagher (February 26, 1923 – September 28, 1975)[1] was an American photographer who won the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for Photography for his photograph of presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson II. Gallagher was a photographer for 27 years with the Flint Journal in Flint, Michigan.

Gallagher's Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of Adlai Stevenson

Gallagher was born in Hiawatha, Kansas.[1] In 1936 he moved to Flint and graduated from St. Matthew's High School in 1943.[2] During World War II he served in the United States Army in the signal corps, medical corps, and air corps.[2]

Gallagher earned his first camera while in high school by selling magazines.[1] He began his professional photography career with the Sporting Digest in Flint in 1946. The following year he moved to the Flint Journal and within a few months became a staff photographer, a position he would hold until his death.[2] Gallagher's colleagues described him as "a boisterous, flamboyant character" who had good relationships with local police and government officials. He was fond of pranks, once lighting a cherry bomb inside the police department and watching the officers scramble, while another time he commandeered a police helicopter while covering a story.[3]

Gallagher snapped his Pulitzer-winning photo at a Labor Day rally in Flint Park. Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson was seated on a platform with Michigan Governor G. Mennen Williams. Gallagher, kneeling at the base of the platform, took a photo of Stevenson seated with his legs crossed, which revealed a hole in the bottom of his right shoe.[4] Because of Gallagher's position, he had to take this photo without looking through the shutter first.[5] Gallagher didn't take the photo seriously and didn't think the Journal would publish it since they endorsed Stevenson's Republican opponent Dwight D. Eisenhower,[4] so he gave it to his editor saying "I just finished this for the hell of it. I don't suppose a Republican paper would want to use it."[3] However, the Journal ran the photo on the front page.[4] The New York Times wrote that Gallagher's photo was "one of the outstanding pictures of the campaign",[5] perhaps because it contrasted with Stevenson's serious, patrician image.[6] Stevenson was sent an "avalanche" of shoes by people who saw the image[5] and when Gallagher won the Pulitzer Stevenson sent him a telegram reading "Glad to hear you won with a hole in one."[2]

Gallagher died of meningitis at age 52.[4]

  1. ^ a b c Elizabeth A. Brennan; Elizabeth C. Clarage (1999). Who's who of Pulitzer Prize winners. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 500. ISBN 978-1-57356-111-2. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d Heinz Dietrich Fischer (June 2011). Picture Coverage of the World: Pulitzer Prize Winning Photos. LIT Verlag Münster. pp. 28–39. ISBN 978-3-643-10844-9. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  3. ^ a b Edwards, Bruce (2004). "Pulitzer-winner generated plenty of stories". Flint Journal. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d "William Gallagher Dies at 52; Won Pulitzer for Photography". New York Times. September 29, 1975. p. 34.
  5. ^ a b c Bracker, Milton (May 5, 1953). "1953 Pulitzer Prizes Won By Hemingway and 'Picnic'". New York Times. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  6. ^ "Visual History". Flint Journal. 2001. Retrieved April 4, 2012.