Hazel Freeman Smith (née Brannon; February 4, 1914 – May 15, 1994) was an American journalist and publisher, the owner and editor of four weekly newspapers in rural Mississippi, mostly in Holmes County. Her newspapers included the Lexington Advertiser, the second oldest newspaper in the state. She distinguished herself both in reporting and editorial writing, advocating for justice for African Americans in the county and the state. In 1964, she became the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing, largely for her writing about the Civil Rights Movement in the year of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. She received numerous other awards for her work as a publisher and editor. A lifelong Baptist, Smith described herself as "just a little editor in a little spot. A lot of other little editors in a lot of little spots is what helps make this country. It's either going to help protect that freedom that we have, or else it's going to let that freedom slip away by default." Biography Hazel Freeman Brannon was born in 1914 in Alabama City, Alabama. She attended local schools and was raised a Baptist by her parents. In 1930, she graduated at the age of 16 from high school in Gadsden. She showed an early interest in journalism, working on a local paper before college. She attended the University of Alabama and graduated in 1935 with a B.A. in journalism. After graduation, she went to Durant, Mississippi and bought the failing Durant News of Holmes County. This majority-black county, long dominated by agriculture, was bordered on the west by the Yazoo River and was part of the Mississippi Delta. By 1943 she had turned the Durant paper around. She bought another weekly, The Lexington Advertiser, based in the nearby county seat of Lexington, where she lived. It was the second oldest newspaper in the state. She edited and published the Lexington Advertiser, the major newspaper in Holmes County, for four decades from 1943-85. In 1956, Smith acquired the Banner County Outlook (Flora, Mississippi) and the Northside Reporter (Jackson, Mississippi), the latter based in the state capital. In 1950, she married Walter Dyer Smith, known as "Smitty", whom she had met on an around-the-world cruise. He was working as the ship's purser. He settled with her in Holmes County and became a county hospital administrator. Reporting the facts and writing editorials Smith became known for