Aretha Franklin was just awarded a Pulitzer Prize (Special Citation). She is the first woman to receive a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation. Aretha is still opening doors for women in her death. Since 1944 (75 years to date), only 13 people have received the Pulitzer Prize Special Citation (so this is not presented annually). Other recipients of the Special Citation includes Hank Williams, Bob Dylan, John Coltrane, Ray Bradbury, Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, William Schuman, Milton Babbitt, Scott Joplin, Roger Sessions, Richard Rodgers, and Oscar Hammerstein II.