Towery said he had been approached by the University of Texas about donating his papers but he settled on the GLO after getting to know Patterson during the last year and confirming that he has a good sense of history and willingness to protect even the storied past of the agency that he now heads.

In 1954 as managing editor at the 3,800-circulation daily Record, Towery uncovered a local land scheme that eventually became a multi-million dollar scandal that stretched all the way to the state Veterans Land Board and Land Commissioner Bascom Giles.

Giles was implicated and became the first Texas elected official to serve time, less than two years, for a crime committed while in office. In spite of speculation that Attorney General John Ben Sheppard and Gov. Allan Shivers were involved, both helped investigate the scandal in which 250 indictments were handed down.

Towery, who lives in Austin, is modest about winning the Pulitzer, which was bestowed for local reporting non-edition time (not on a deadline.)

“I was a pretty darn good writer in those days,” he said jokingly at the presentation. “Well, they’ve got to give it to somebody.”

But Towery said he had no idea while he was investigating and writing the stories at his little newspaper in Cuero, which is about 60 miles southeast of San Antonio, that his work would be worthy of a Pulitzer.

“I did not think we were even in that league when I was writing the story. All I was trying to do is do what a good reporter is supposed to do,” Towery said.

While Towery said he did not take pleasure in helping send officials, many of whom were friends, to jail and ruining their careers, he is pleased that his reporting changed public policy and laws at the state level. For a while after the coverage he thought his reporting would keep other officials from ever being corrupt, but over time he said he realized that human nature will never change.

“As long as people are people and humans are humans there’s going to be those (that are corrupt),” he said.

Towery said he knows the press has changed considerably since his days as a journalist but he still believes an honest press will keep watch on the government.

Many of the copies of the newspapers in the Pulitzer collection are the only surviving issues. Because the newspaper was so small, the press runs were just enough to cover the circulation, much like today’s community newspapers.

“We were a small paper and when the press run is through it’s through,” Towery said.

Louise Towery carefully packed the newspapers and carried them through several moves. For a short time they sat in her family’s barn and for a while she wrapped them in plastic garbage bags before learning that was the worst preservation method. The newspapers are in remarkable shape for being 49 years old.

The collection begins on Nov. 16, 1954 and runs through Nov. 20, 1955, covering 115 issues. The Towerys also donated a 16 mm film reel of the May 3, 1995 edition of Edward R. Murrow’s “See It Now” program that showed Towery getting the Pulitzer phone call and interviews about his investigation. The GLO has VHS copies of the film available for public viewing.

Towery was unable to attend the Pulitzer award luncheon in May 1955 for health reasons so the prize committee mailed him his $1,000 check with a 3-cent stamp. He said jokingly he thought that was “cheeky” and wished they had at least insured it. The check amounted to more than a month’s salary at the time.

Towery was 32 when he won the Pulitzer but already had a world of experience in more ways than just journalism. He was a World War II veteran and spent three and a half years as a Japanese prisoner of war in the Philippines and Manchuria where he contracted tuberculosis in the horrible living conditions. He details his POW ordeal in his book “The Chow Dipper.”

Towery started his newspaper career in 1945 after returning home and just 10 years later won the nation’s top journalism prize through lots of legwork and his knack for investigative work.

Towery discovered that white businessmen were paying off a black caretaker at the country club to find black veterans to buy land under a state loan program. A stipulation in the law allowing block sales to two or more veterans enabled the men to get around loan limits. They defrauded the victims, many of whom were illiterate or signed blank documents not knowing they were buying land. Towery couldn’t find a single veteran who had made a down payment for the land.

Towery took his knowledge to the county attorney, who was conducting his own investigation into reports that veterans were getting bills from the state for land they didn’t know they owned. He sat on the story while the county attorney went to Austin to see if he had a case.

After the county attorney was turned down, Towery went to Austin and managed by accident to get a 15-minute appointment with Giles. That meeting lasted two hours.

“I knew something was really wrong when Giles started answering questions I hadn’t asked,” he told a Texas Daily Newspaper Association reporter in 1986.

He returned to Cuero, wrote the story and it ran the next day under the headline “Bascom Giles denies wrongdoing.” His reporting on the scandal brought personal threats to Towery.

“But after what I went through in World War II (the threats) didn’t mean anything,” he said.

“The community hung in there with us and so did the publisher.”

Contains material from “The Texas Pulitzers for Journalism: 1955-1986,” a program produced for the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors’ March 27, 1987 luncheon.

Quick Facts about the Pulitzer Prizes

What do Pulitzer Prize winners get when they win?

There are 21 Pulitzer categories (14 for newspapers). In 20 of those the winners receive a $7,500 cash award and a certificate. Only the winner in the Public Service category of the Journalism competition is awarded a gold medal. The Public Service prize is always awarded to a newspaper, not an individual, although an individual may be named in the citation.

How is “Pulitzer” pronounced?

The correct pronunciation is “PULL it sir.”

How are winners selected?

The Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism (14 categories) are awarded each spring by Columbia University on the recommendation of The Pulitzer Prize Board.

The prizes are awarded for outstanding achievement in journalism during the previous calendar year. Juries of distinguished journalists are appointed in each category. They are asked to submit three nominations to The Pulitzer Prize Board.

The Pulitzer Board is charged with the responsibility and authority under the will of Joseph Pulitzer to select, accept, substitute or reject the nominations of the jurors.

What are the guidelines for entering?

• Entry fee: $50

• Deadline: February 1

• Requirement: Entries for journalism awards must be from material appearing in a newspaper published daily, Sunday or at least once a week during the calendar year, ending Dec. 31.

Has a weekly ever won a Pulitzer?

Yes, according to a search on the Pulitzer Web site, at least six weekly newspapers have won the prize:

• 1953, Public Service, Whiteville (N.C.) News Reporter and Tabor City (N.C.) Tribune, two weeklies for their successful campaign against the Ku Klux Klan.

• 1965, Local General or Spot News Reporting, Melvin H. Ruder of Hungry Horse News, Columbia Falls, Mt. for his coverage of a disastrous flood.

• 1979, Public Service, Point Reyes Light, Calif., for its investigation of Synanon.

• 1994, Criticism, Lloyd Schwartz Boston Phoenix, for classical music criticism.

• 1998, Editorial Writing,Bernard L. Stein of Riverdale (N.Y.) Press, for his editorials on politics and other issues affecting New York City residents.

Where can I find more information?

Log onto www.pulitzer.org.

FYI: Did you know that two Texans sit on the 18 member Pulitzer Prize Board — Rich Oppel, editor Austin American-Statesman and Rena Pederson, editor at large, The Dallas Morning News