COLUMBIA -- Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Scott Applewhite will open an exhibition of Associated Press photos that capture key moments in U.S. presidential history Sept. 25 with a public lecture at the University of South Carolina's Thomas Cooper Library.

Applewhite will speak at 5 p.m. in the library's Graniteville Room. The event is free and open to the public, and a reception will follow.

The exhibit, "The American President: A Photographic History," is on display through Oct. 10 in the library's East Gallery, located on the main floor. More than two dozen photos on 16 large panels tell some of America's most remarkable presidential stories, from political victories and defeats to wars and assassinations to the moments that define a presidency and a generation.

The photographs, many of which have rarely been seen since their publication, span more than 60 years of history and influence. One is a shot of Harry S Truman shortly after his improbable win over Thomas E. Dewey. The newspaper headline tells one story: "Dewey Defeats Truman." The 1948 photograph shows another: a beaming and victorious Truman.

Applewhite has won two Pulitzer Prizes as an AP photographer: the first for photos that documented the 1992 U.S. presidential election, and the second for photos that documented the events surrounding President Bill Clinton's impeachment in 1999.

The AP exhibit and lecture are sponsored by the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies and the University Libraries.

Events on Sept. 25 will also celebrate the opening of a companion exhibit, titled "Presidential Prospects -- Palmetto Politics: Four Campaigns from South Carolina Political Collections." In this exhibit, documents and memorabilia from the University Libraries' South Carolina Political Collections detail four presidential races: Kennedy-Nixon in 1960, Johnson-Goldwater in 1964, Ford-Carter in 1976 and Ernest F. Hollings' bid for the Democratic nomination in 1984. The exhibit runs through Nov. 28.

For more information about the AP exhibit, "The American President: A Photographic History," contact Shawn Rourk at 803-777-6141 or shawn.rourk@sc.edu. For more information about the exhibit, "Presidential Prospects -- Palmetto Politics: Four Campaigns from South Carolina Political Collections," call Herb Hartsook, SCPC director, at 803-777-0577 or e-mail herb@sc.edu.

Special to The T&D

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