Alan Prendergast, a Colorado College alumnus and Professor of Journalism, was honored with the 2015 Eugene S. Pulliam National Journalism Writing Award for his article “Bloody Ludlow.” The article focuses on the Ludlow Massacre of 1914 that occurred between the Colorado National Guard and the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company.
“This particular award is gratifying and humbling because it is based on the quality of writing,” said Prendergast. “In addition, there are certain obligations that come with this award, like presenting a speech to students at the Pittenger Student Union and being on the committee next year, which make the award more meaningful.”
Prendergast has been doing long form stories that involve archival research for some time.
“I found that there is something satisfying about going back to a piece of history that you thought you knew and trying to separate the myths from what actually happened,” he said.
Prendergast was inspired to write about the Ludlow Massacre because of the differing accounts on what transpired. He is also from Southern Colorado and had grown up hearing stories about the massacre.
“The Ludlow Massacre is a piece of Colorado history that a lot of people do not know about,” he said. “People know Colorado for the skiing, recreational marijuana, and craft beer. This makes it hard for people to imagine an event like this occurring.”
Prendergast’s goal for this article was to bring light to the historic significance of the event, as well as to give readers an accurate account of the human drama within the Ludlow Massacre. Prendergast achieves this by “trying to understand the people and their motives, which is a challenge when the event was so far removed.”
For the article, Prendergast tried to focus on critical actors like central labor union organizers John Lawson and Louis Tikas.
Prendergast explained, “Highlighting these various stories is important in understanding the full event.”
Prendergast was an English major at Colorado College when the school lacked a journalism program.
“Following graduation, I thought I would write novels,” he said. “However, I found that entry-level positions at publishing companies pay poorly. I realized that it is possible to write using storytelling techniques as a journalist. After I realized that, I did not look back.”
Prendergast has been coming back each year for the past 15 years to teach a Block or two in the journalism minor at CC. “I enjoy coming back and spending time here at Colorado College,” he said. “It helps me think about why I do what I do.”
“The field has changed dramatically since I have graduated,” Prendergast said to aspiring journalists. “It is important to have a wider skill set and be adaptable to the changing shape of journalism. However, the fundamental requirement remains the same, which is that you must have a burning curiosity about your world and a desire to tell good stories about it.”