Overview
Ken Towery Papers
AR.272.KT
Texas General Land Office, Archives & Records
1.67 Linear feet, (3 oversized boxes)
Bulk, 1954-1955
1954-2003
Materials are written in English.
File Vault
Ken Towery (1923- ), Pultizer Prize-winning Texas reporter and former POW, was born in 1923 in Monroe County, Mississippi. His papers contain newspapers, clippings, magazines, and moving images documenting his investigation of the Veterans' Land Board Scandal in 1954-1955.
Towery, Ken, 1923-
Scope and Contents of the Records
The Ken Towery Papers, 1954-2003, contain newspapers, clippings, magazines, and moving images. The bulk of the collection is comprised of newspapers, magazines, and clippings containing articles about Towery and the Veterans' Land Board Scandal investigation and trials in Austin and DeWitt County.
The scandal, during which local white businessmen coerced African-American veterans into signing over rights to land-purchase loans, is well documented as reported by the local daily 6-page paper where the story first broke. Of note are editorials and letters to the editor that reflect local perspectives. Also included are articles by Towery and others and UP wires from Austin.
This collection also contains the May 3, 1955 edition of Edward R. Murrow’s CBS television program See It Now, which highlighted Towery’s investigation and Pulitzer Prize, and footage of the 2003 ceremony at which Towery donated his papers to the Texas General Land Office.
Conditions Governing Access note
Unrestricted access.
Conditions Governing Use note
Materials may be under copyright protection. US copyright law does allow for reproduction of materials under copyright for uses such as critique, criticism, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research. The researcher has full responsibility for determining copyright status, locating copyright holders, and abiding by current copyright laws when publishing or displaying copies of Special Collections material in print or electronic form.
Related Materials
The Virginia C. McNeal Conkle Scrapbook documents the indictments against former Land Commissioner Bascom Giles and others who participated in the Veteran's Land Board Scandal as covered through the Austin print media.
Virginia C. McNeal Conkle Scrapbook (OS.CSB). Archives and Records Program, Texas General Land Office, Austin.
The Cuero Record is also held by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, the University of Texas Libraries, Victoria College/University of Houston-Victoria, Victoria Public Library, Houston Public Library, and Corpus Christi Public Library. Contact the institution for information on issues held.
Preferred Citation
Ken Towery Papers (KT.AR.272). Archives and Records Program, Texas General Land Office, Austin.
Processing Information
Finding aid by Lauren Goodley, October 2009, based on a previous inventory by Jerry Drake.
Accession Information
Ken Towery donated his papers to the Texas General Land Office on October 1, 2003.
Biographical Note
Ken Towery (1923- ), Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and former POW, was born in 1923 in Monroe County, Mississippi. After World War II, Towery attended Southwest Texas Junior College and became the managing editor of the Cuero Daily Record in Cuero, Texas.
In 1955, Towery was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in local reporting for breaking the story and publishing a series of articles exposing fraud and corruption in the Texas Veterans Land Programs. Towery had discovered that white Cuero businessmen were paying black veterans to sign over veterans loan applications to buy land. The Veterans Land Board was investigated by the State Legislature, and Texas Land Commissioner Bascom Giles was indicted and served three years in the Texas State Penitentiary. In total, twenty people were indicted in nine counties.
Towery went on to work in government service and was active in politics and political campaigns.
Sources
- Kaderli, Elizabeth,
“Veterans’ Land Board Scandal”
Handbook of Texas Online , http://http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/mqv01 (accessed October 15, 2009)
- Towery, Ken,
The Chow Dipper: A Personal and Political Odyssey . Austin, Texas: Eakin Press, 1994
- Ken Towery Papers (KT.AR.272).Archives and Records, Texas General Land Office.
Other formats of the records
The 16mm film has been copied onto VHS and DVD formats.
Materials in this collection have not been digitized.
Arrangement
The Papers are organized into 3 series:
I. Partial and Complete Newspapers and Clippings
II. Magazines
III. Moving Images
Index Terms
Giles, Bascom, 1900-1993
Texas. Veterans' Land Board.
Towery, Ken, 1923- -- Archives
Cuero (Tex.)
Magazines
Manuscripts
Moving Images
Newspapers
Veterans' Land Board Scandal
Veterans--Loans
Veterans--Loans--Law and Legislation
Partial and Complete Newspapers and Clippings,
1954-1955
Cuero Record (Texas) - partial and complete issues
OS 111
1954-1955
Cuero Record
1954 Nov 16
Cuero Record
1954 Nov 17
Cuero Record
1954 Nov 21
Cuero Record
1954 Nov 22
Cuero Record
1954 Nov 23
Cuero Record
1954 Nov 24
Cuero Record
1954 Nov 29
Cuero Record
1954 Dec 3
Cuero Record
1954 Dec 7
Cuero Record
1954 Dec 16
Cuero Record
1954 Dec 17
Cuero Record
1954 Dec 19
Cuero Record
1954 Dec 20
Cuero Record
1954 Dec 21
Cuero Record
1954 Dec 28
Cuero Record
1954 Dec 29
Cuero Record
1954 Dec 30
Cuero Record
1954 Dec 31
Cuero Record
1955 Jan 3
Cuero Record
1955 Jan 4
Cuero Record
1955 Jan 5
Cuero Record
1955 Jan 6
Cuero Record
1955 Jan 7
Cuero Record
1955 Jan 9
Cuero Record
1955 Jan 10
Cuero Record
1955 Jan 11
Cuero Record
1955 Jan 12
Cuero Record
1955 Jan 13
Cuero Record
1955 Jan 14
Cuero Record
1955 Jan 16
Cuero Record
1955 Jan 17
Cuero Record
1955 Jan 18
Cuero Record
1955 Jan 19
Cuero Record
1955 Jan 21
Cuero Record
1955 Jan 23
Cuero Record
1955 Feb 1
Cuero Record
1955 Feb 2
Cuero Record
1955 Feb 3
Cuero Record
1955 Feb 4
Cuero Record
1955 Feb 6
Cuero Record
1955 Feb 7
Cuero Record
1955 Feb 8
Cuero Record
1955 Feb 9
Cuero Record
1955 Feb 10
Cuero Record
1955 Feb 11
Cuero Record
1955 Feb 13
Cuero Record
1955 Feb 14
Cuero Record
1955 Feb 15
Cuero Record
1955 Feb 16
Cuero Record
1955 Feb 18
Cuero Record
1955 Feb 22
Cuero Record
1955 Feb 23
Cuero Record
1955 Feb 24
Cuero Record
1955 Feb 25
Cuero Record
1955 Feb 28
Cuero Record
1955 Mar 1
Cuero Record
1955 Mar 2
Cuero Record
1955 Mar 3
Cuero Record
1955 Mar 4
Cuero Record
1955 Mar 6
Cuero Record
1955 Mar 7
Cuero Record
1955 Mar 8
Cuero Record
1955 Mar 9
Cuero Record
1955 Mar 10
Cuero Record
1955 Mar 13
Cuero Record
1955 Mar 14
Cuero Record
1955 Mar 15
Cuero Record
1955 Mar 16
Cuero Record
1955 Mar 18
Cuero Record
1955 Mar 23
Cuero Record
1955 Mar 24
Cuero Record
1955 Mar 25
Cuero Record
1955 Mar 28
Cuero Record
1955 Apr 1
Cuero Record
1955 Apr 17
Cuero Record
1955 Apr 26
Cuero Record
1955 Apr 28
Cuero Record
1955 May 2
Cuero Record
1955 May 3
Cuero Record
1955 May 4
Cuero Record
1955 May 5
Cuero Record
1955 May 6
Cuero Record
1955 May 8
Cuero Record
1955 May 11
Cuero Record
1955 May 18
Cuero Record
1955 May 23
Cuero Record
1955 May 25
Cuero Record
1955 May 29
Cuero Record
1955 Jun 2
Cuero Record
1955 Jun 5
Cuero Record
1955 Jun 8
Cuero Record
1955 Jun 12
Cuero Record
1955 Jun 15
Cuero Record
1955 Jul 8
Cuero Record
1955 Jul 28
Cuero Record
1955 Sep 12
Cuero Record
1955 Nov 14
Cuero Record
1955 Nov 15
Cuero Record
1955 Nov 18
Cuero Record
1955 Nov 19
"Pulitzer Prize Sought for Cuero Paper Editor," James O. Holley,
Houston Post, section 4, page 7.
OS 111
Mar 13, 1955
"Cuero, Where Land Probe Began; Meet the Men Behind the Guns," Margaret Davis,
Houston Post, pp. 1-2.
OS 111
Feb. 15, 1955
"How One 'Missent' Check Started a Multi-Million Dollar Scandal," Margaret Davis,
Houston Post, pp. 1-2.
OS 111
Feb. 16, 1955
"How a Small Town Editor Gave the Go-Ahead on Land Probe," Margaret Davis,
Houston Post, pp. 1-2.
OS 111
Feb. 17, 1955
"He Got Hotter’N a Peanut Popper when He Couldn’t Oust the Check," Ken Towery interview with Early Goodson,
State Journal, p. 4.
OS 111
Nov. 27, 1954
"Vets Question DA at Protest Meeting,"
Yorktown News, pp. 1, 8.
OS 111
Feb. 9, 1955
Magazines,
1955
Look,
OS 109
November 15, 1955
Redbook,
OS 109
September 1955
Redbook,
OS 109
November 1955
Saturday Evening Post,
OS 109
November 12, 1955
Time,
OS 109
March 7, 1955
Town Journal,
OS 109
August, 1955
Moving Images
"See It Now",
CBS News broadcast, 16 mm,
OS 110
May 3, 1955
"See It Now",
CBS News, broadcast May 3, 1955 and Donation of Towery Papers Ceremony, DVD,
OS 109
October 1, 2003
"See It Now",
CBS News broadcast, copy, VHS,
OS 109
2009