The School of Journalism at Columbia University has awarded the Pulitzer Prize since 1917. Nowadays there are prizes in 21 categories from the fields of journalism, literature and music. The Pulitzer Prize Archive presentsthe history of this award from its beginnings to the present: In parts A toE the awarding oftheprize in each category is documented, commented and arranged chronologically. Part F covers the history of the prize biographically and bibliographically. Part G provides the background to thedecisions.

Joseph Pulitzer had not originally intended to award a prize for poetry. An initiative by the Poetry Society of America provided the initial impetus to establish the prize, first awarded in 1922. The supplement volume chronicles the whole history of how the awards for this category developed, giving an account based mainly on confidential jury protocols from the Pulitzer Prizes office at New York’s Columbia University. This volume completes the series "The Pulitzer Prize Archive".

The Pulitzer Prize for the most significant book on American history has been awarded each year since 1917, and is thus among the most traditional of the honours. Chronicle of the Pulitzer Prizes for History, the first supplement volume, documents the complete history of the development of the awards in this category from 1917 to 2005. The presentation is mainly based on primary sources from the Pulitzer Prize Office at the New York Columbia University. The most important sources are the confidential jury protocols, reproduced completely as facsimiles for the first time in this volume, and providing detailed information about each year's evaluation process.