| | 1917 No author named of New York Tribune |
| | For an editorial article on the first anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania. |
| | 1918 No author named of Louisville Courier Journal |
| | For the editorial article, "Vae Victis!" and the editorial, "War Has Its Compensation." |
| | 1919 (No Award) |
| | |
| | 1920 Harvey E. Newbranch of Evening World Herald, Omaha, Neb. |
| | For an editorial entitled "Law and the Jungle." |
| | 1921 (No Award) |
| | |
| | 1922 Frank M. O'Brien of New York Herald |
| | For an article entitled, "The Unknown Soldier." |
| | 1923 William Allen White of Emporia (Kan.) Gazette |
| | For an editorial entitled "To an Anxious Friend." |
| | 1924 No author named of Boston Herald |
| | For an editorial entitled "Who Made Coolidge?" Special prize of $1000 was awarded to the widow of the late Frank I. Cobb, New York World, in recognition of the distinction of her husband's editorial writing and service. |
| | 1925 No author named of Charleston (S.C.) News and Courier |
| | For the editorial entitled "Plight of the South." |
| | 1926 Edward M. Kingsbury of New York Times |
| | For the editorial entitled "'House of a Hundred Sorrows." |
| | 1927 F. Lauriston Bullard of Boston Herald |
| | For the editorial entitled, "We Submit." |
| | 1928 Grover Cleveland Hall of Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser |
| | For his editorials against gangsterism, floggings and racial and religious intolerance. |
| | 1929 Louis Isaac Jaffe of Norfolk Virginian-Pilot |
| | For his editorial entitled "An Unspeakable Act of Savagery," which is typical of a series of articles written on the lynching evil and in successful advocacy of legislation to prevent it. |
| | 1930 (No Award) |
| | |
| | 1931 Charles S. Ryckman of Fremont (Neb.) Tribune |
| | For the editorial entitled "The Gentlemen from Nebraska." |
| | 1932 (No Award) |
| | |
| | 1933 No author named of Kansas City (Mo.) Star |
| | For its series of editorials on national and international topics. |
| | 1934 E. P. Chase of Atlantic (Iowa) News-Telegraph |
| | For an editorial entitled, "Where is Our Money ?" |
| | 1935 (No Award) |
| | |
| | 1936 Felix Morley and George B. Parker of Washington Post and Scripps-Howard Newspapers (respectively) |
| | For distinguished editorial writing during the year. |
| | 1937 John W. Owens of Baltimore Sun |
| | For distinguished editorial writing during the year. |
| | 1938 William Wesley Waymack of Register and Tribune, Des Moines, Iowa |
| | For his distinguished editorial writing during the year. |
| | 1939 Ronald G. Callvert of Oregonian, Portland, Ore. |
| | For his distinguished editorial writing during the year as exemplified by the editorial entitled "My Country 'Tis of Thee." |
| | 1940 Bart Howard of St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
| | For his distinguished editorial writing during the year. |
| | 1941 Reuben Maury of New York Daily News |
| | For his distinguished editorial writing during the year. |
| | 1942 Geoffrey Parsons of New York Herald Tribune |
| | For his distinguished editorial writing during the year. |
| | 1943 Forrest W. Seymour of Register and Tribune, Des Moines, Iowa |
| | For his editorials published during the calendar year 1942. |
| | 1944 Henry J. Haskell. of Kansas City (Mo.) Star |
| | For editorials written during the calendar year 1943. |
| | 1945 George W. Potter of Providence Journal-Bulletin |
| | For his editorials published during the calendar year 1944, especially for his editorials on the subject of freedom of the press. |
| | 1946 Hodding Carter of Delta Democrat-Times, Greenville, Miss. |
| | For a group of editorials published during the year 1945 on the subject of racial, religious and economic intolerance, as exemplified by the editorial "Go for Broke." |
| | 1947 William H. Grimes of Wall Street Journal |
| | For his distinguished editorial writing during the year. |
| | 1948 Virginius Dabney of Richmond Times-Dispatch |
| | For distinguished editorial writing during the year. |
| | 1949 John H. Crider of Boston Herald |
| | For distinguished editorial writing during the year. |
| | 1949 Herbert Elliston of Washington Post |
| | For distinguished editorial writing during the year. |
| | 1950 Carl M. Saunders of Jackson (Mich.) Citizen Patriot. |
| | For distinguished editorial writing during the year. |
| | 1951 William Harry Fitzpatrick of New Orleans States |
| | For his series of editorials analyzing and clarifying a very important constitutional issue, which is described by the general heading of the series, "Government by Treaty." |
| | 1952 Louis LaCoss of St. Louis Globe Democrat |
| | For his editorial entitled, "The Low Estate of Public Morals." |
| | 1953 Vermont Connecticut Royster of Wall Street Journal |
| | For distinguished editorial writing during the year. |
| | 1954 Don Murray of Boston Herald |
| | For a series of editorials on the "New Look" in National Defense which won wide attention for their analysis of changes in American military policy. |
| | 1955 Royce Howes of Detroit Free Press |
| | For an editorial on "The Cause of a Strike," impartially and clearly analyzing the responsibility of both labor and management for a local union's unauthorized strike in July, 1954, which rendered 45,000 Chrysler Corporation workers idle and unpaid. By pointing out how and why the parent United Automobile Workers' Union ordered the local strike called off and stating that management let dissatisfaction get out of hand, the editorial made a notable contribution to public understanding of the whole program of the respective responsibilities and relationships of labor and management in this field. |
| | 1956 Lauren K. Soth of Register and Tribune, Des Moines, Iowa |
| | For the editorial inviting a farm delegation from the Soviet Union to visit Iowa, which led directly to the Russian farm visit to the U.S. |
| | 1957 Buford Boone of Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News |
| | For his fearless and reasoned editorials in a community inflamed by a segregation issue, an outstanding example of his work being the editorial entitled, "What a Price for Peace," published on February 7,1956. |
| | 1958 Harry S. Ashmore, executive editor of Arkansas Gazette |
| | For the forcefulness, dispassionate analysis and clarity of his editorials on the school integration conflict in Little Rock. |
| | 1959 Ralph McGill, editor of Atlanta (Georgia) Constitution |
| | For his distinguished editorial writing during 1958 as exemplified in his editorial "A Church, A School...." and for his long, courageous and effective editorial leadership. |
| | 1960 Lenoir Chambers, editor of Norfolk Virginian-Pilot |
| | For his series of editorials on the school integration problem in Virginia, as exemplified by "The Year the Schools Closed," published January 1, 1959, and "The Year the Schools Opened," published December 31, 1959. |
| | 1961 William J. Dorvillier of San Juan (Puerto Rico) Star |
| | For his editorials on clerical interference in the 1960 gubernatorial election in Puerto Rico. |
| | 1962 Thomas M. Storke of Santa Barbara (Calif.) News-Press |
| | For his forceful editorials calling public attention to the activities of a semi-secret organization known as the John Birch Society. |
| | 1963 Ira B. Harkey, Jr. editor and publisher of Pascagoula (Miss.) Chronicle |
| | For his courageous editorials devoted to the processes of law and reason during the integration crisis in Mississippi in 1962. |
| | 1964 Hazel Brannon Smith of Lexington (Miss.) Advertiser |
| | For steadfast adherence to her editorial duty in the face of great pressure and opposition. |
| | 1965 John R. Harrison of Gainesville (Fla.) Sun |
| | For his successful editorial campaign for better housing in his city. |
| | 1966 Robert Lasch of St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
| | For his distinguished editorial writing in 1965. |
| | 1967 Eugene Patterson of Atlanta Constitution |
| | For his editorials during the year |
| | 1968 John S. Knight of Knight Newspapers |
| | For his distinguished editorial writing . |
| | 1969 Paul Greenberg of Pine Bluff (Ark.) Commercial |
| | For his editorials during 1968. |
| | 1970 Philip L. Geyelin of Washington Post |
| | For his editorials during 1969. |
| | 1971 Horance G. Davis Jr. of Gainesville (Fla.) Sun |
| | For his editorials in support of the peaceful desegregation of Florida's schools. |
| | 1972 John Strohmeyer of Bethlehem (Pa.) Globe-Times |
| | For his editorial campaign to reduce racial tensions in Bethlehem. |
| | 1973 Roger B. Linscott of Berkshire Eagle, Pittsfield, Mass. |
| | For his editorials during 1972. |
| | 1974 F. Gilman Spencer, editor of Trentonian of Trenton, N.J. |
| | For his courageous campaign to focus public attention on scandals in New Jersey's state government. |
| | 1975 John Daniell Maurice of Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail |
| | For his editorials about the Kanawha County schoolbook controversy. |
| | 1976 Philip P. Kerby of Los Angeles Times |
| | For his editorials against government secrecy and judicial censorship. |
| | 1977 Warren L. Lerude, Foster Church and Norman F. Cardoza of Reno (Nev.) Evening Gazette and Nevada State Journal |
| | For editorials challenging the power of a local brothel keeper. |
| | 1978 Meg Greenfield, deputy editorial page editor of Washington Post |
| | For selected samples of her work. |
| | 1979 Edwin M. Yoder Jr. of Washington Star |
| | |
| | 1980 Robert L. Bartley of Wall Street Journal |
| | |
| | 1981 (No Award) |
| | |
| | 1982 Jack Rosenthal of New York Times |
| | |
| | 1983 Miami Herald Editorial Board of Miami Herald |
| | For its campaign against the detention of illegal Haitian immigrants by federal officials. |
| | 1984 Albert Scardino of Georgia Gazette, Savannah |
| | For his series of editorials: on various local and state matters. |
| | 1985 Richard Aregood of Philadelphia Daily News |
| | For his editorials on a variety of subjects. |
| | 1986 Jack Fuller of Chicago Tribune |
| | For his editorials on constitutional issues. |
| | 1987 Jonathan Freedman of Tribune, San Diego, Calif. |
| | For his editorials urging passage of the first major immigration reform act in 34 years. |
| | 1988 Jane Healy of Orlando Sentinel |
| | For her series of editorials protesting overdevelopment of Florida's Orange County. |
| | 1989 Lois Wille of Chicago Tribune |
| | For her editorials on a variety of local issues. |
| | 1990 Thomas J. Hylton of Pottstown (Pa.) Mercury |
| | For his editorials about a local bond issue for the preservation of farmland and other open space in rural Pennsylvania. |
| | 1991 Ron Casey, Harold Jackson and Joey Kennedy of Birmingham (Ala.) News |
| | For their editorial campaign analyzing inequities in Alabama's tax system and proposing needed reforms. |
| | 1992 Maria Henson of Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader |
| | For her editorials about battered women in Kentucky, which focused statewide attention on the problem and prompted significant reforms. |
| | 1993 (No Award) |
| | |
| | 1994 R. Bruce Dold of Chicago Tribune |
| | For his series of editorials deploring the murder of a 3-year-old boy by his abusive mother and decrying the Illinois child welfare system. |
| | 1995 Jeffrey Good of St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times |
| | For his editorial campaign urging reform of Florida's probate system for settling estates. |
| | 1996 Robert B. Semple, Jr. of New York Times |
| | For his editorials on environmental issues. |
| | 1997 Michael Gartner of Daily Tribune, Ames, Iowa |
| | For his common sense editorials about issues deeply affecting the lives of people in his community. |
| | 1998 Bernard L. Stein of Riverdale (N.Y.) Press, a weekly |
| | For his gracefully-written editorials on politics and other issues affecting New York City residents. |
| | 1999 Editorial Board of New York Daily News |
| | For its effective campaign to rescue Harlem's Apollo Theatre from the financial mismanagement that threatened the landmark's survival. |
| | 2000 John C. Bersia of Orlando Sentinel |
| | For his passionate editorial campaign attacking predatory lending practices in the state, which prompted changes in local lending regulations. |
| | 2001 David Moats of Rutland (Vt.) Herald |
| | For his even-handed and influential series of editorials commenting on the divisive issues arising from civil unions for same-sex couples. |
| | 2002 Alex Raksin and Bob Sipchen of Los Angeles Times |
| | For their comprehensive and powerfully-written editorials exploring the issues and dilemmas provoked by mentally ill people dwelling on the streets. |
| | 2003 Cornelia Grumman of Chicago Tribune |
| | For her powerful, freshly challenging editorials on reform of the death penalty. |
| | 2004 William R. Stall of Los Angeles Times |
| | For his incisive editorials that analyzed California's troubled state government, prescribed remedies and served as a model for addressing complex state issues. |
| | 2005 Tom Philp of Sacramento Bee |
| | For his deeply researched editorials on reclaiming California’s flooded Hetch Hetchy Valley that stirred action. |
| | 2006 Rick Attig and Doug Bates of Oregonian, Portland |
| | For their persuasive, richly reported editorials on abuses inside a forgotten Oregon mental hospital. |