Press Releases | Mar, 29 2023
New Release from the LBJ Presidential Library Archives Audio tapes and textual materials relating to LBJ's 1948 U.S. Senate race will be available on March 30, 2023.
(AUSTIN, TX) – On March 30, 2023, a new collection will be available for researchers and the public. This collection includes digitized audio cassettes and textual materials related to the investigation of the 1948 U.S. Senate race in Texas by Associated Press reporter James W. Mangan. The nine audio cassettes were recorded in the 1970s and consist largely of James Mangan's interviews with Luis Salas, an associate of South Texas political boss George B. Parr. They concern Salas's involvement with vote counting in Jim Wells County and the famous "Box 13," which contained ballots from Alice, Texas, that resulted in the election of Lyndon Johnson to the U.S. Senate by a few dozen votes. The cassettes also include recordings of related discussions between James Mangan and others, several unrelated press briefings, and related and unrelated commercial radio broadcasts.
The textual materials consist of two folders: one containing notes, correspondence, and clippings related to James Mangan's reporting; and one containing reproductions of a scrapbook, the original of which was transferred to the LBJ Presidential Library. The scrapbook was presented to James Mangan by the Associated Press and contains clippings of his reportage.
James W. Mangan's reporting on the events in these materials represents the first public reporting and the first retrospective investigation on the subject of the Box 13 incident following the intense controversy that flared around the time of LBJ's election to the Senate. The materials were donated by his son, Peter Mangan, and include notes from Peter Mangan regarding his father's reporting.
The archival material may be found here and may also be reviewed in the Reading Room of the LBJ Presidential Library.
Media Contact:
Anne Wheeler
Communications Director
LBJ Library and Foundation
awheeler@lbjfoundation.org
512.731.2351
