Luther Harris Evans

Luther Harris Evans (1902-1981) was Librarian of Congress and third Director-General of UNESCO.

Luther Harris Evans

Life

Luther Harris Evans was born on October 13, 1902 in Sayersville, Texas. He received an BA (1923) and MA (1924) from the University of Texas at Austin and an PhD from Stanford University in 1927, all in political science.

Evans taught political science at New York University, Dartmouth College, and Princeton University from 1927 until 1935. From 1935 to 1939 he organized and directed the Historical Records Survey for the Works Project Administration. After that, the Librarian of Congress, Archibald MacLeish, appointed him head of the Legislative Reference Service and later Chief Assistant Librarian of Congress. After MacLeish resigned, president Harry S. Truman appointed Evans as Librarian of Congress, a position he held from 1945 to 1953. Library of Congress (LC): 1939-?; Librarian of Congress 1945-1953; Helped expand the services of the LC; Saw the LC as a reference center not a reading room; Worked on increasing ILLs; Felt the LC was "a great factory on the frontier of knowledge" (Current Biography)

Worked to obtain any information possibly needed by government offices.

Library of Congress (LC): 1939-?; Librarian of Congress 1945-1953; Helped expand the services of the LC; Saw the LC as a reference center not a reading room; Worked on increasing ILLs; Felt the LC was "a great factory on the frontier of knowledge" (Current Biography)

Director-General of UNESCO from 1953 to 1958.

Worked to obtain any information possibly needed by government offices. From 1962, he was director of international and legal collections at the Columbia University Libraries until his retirement in 1971. He died on December 23, 1981 in San Antonio, Texas.

Contributions

As Librarian of Congress Evans opposed censorship of the library's holdings and greatly expanded the library's collection. He helped draft the Universal Copyright Convention in 1952. , and helped organize the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and served as its third Director-General.

Publications

• The job of the Librarian of Congress. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1945.

Offices

American Documentation Institute. President, 1950-52.

Awards

• American Library Association. Honorary Membership, 1972.

Further reading

• Cole, John Y. "Evans, Luther Harris (1902-1981)." Supplement to the Dictionary of American library biography. Ed. by Wayne A. Wiegand. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1990, pp 22-26.
• Sittig, W. J. (1976). "Luther Evans: Man for a new age." Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress 33 (1976): 251-267.
• "Luther H. Evans." Wikipedia [1]

Papers

• Columbia University Libraries, New York, NY: Luther Harris Evans papers, 1952-1970. [2]

LOCATION #3: Columbia University, Oral History Project, New York, NY; search under: Evans, Luther Harris, 1902-. Reminiscences of Luther Harris Evans: oral history, 1965.

PAPERS DATES: 1965

SIZE: Transcript: 844 leaves; Tape: 1 reel

INCLUDES: Describes early life and education as well as work as instructor at New York University, Dartmouth Princeton; Works Progress Administration, 1935-1939; director of Historical Records Survey; director of Legislative Reference Service; Librarian of Congress, 1945-1953; new projects, programs; establishment of Council of National Library Association; United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization(UNESCO); United States National Commission, 1946; Executive Board, 1949, director-general, 1953, delegate to General Conference, 1947-1951; UNESCO program development: education, agriculture, mass communication, financial aid; Brookings Institutions; National Education Association; automation project; United States Commission for Refugees; American Civil Liberties Union. Interviewed by Thomas F. Hogan.

SOURCE: RLIN

LOCATION #4: Stanford University, Hoover Institution Archives; search under: Evans, Luther Harris, 1902-. Conference summaries, 1949.

PAPERS DATES: 1949

SIZE: 1 folder

INCLUDES: Relates to meetings of the US delegation to the Third Session of the UNESCO General Conference, 1948.

SOURCE: RLIN

LOCATION #5: Columbia University, Oral History Collection; search under: Evans, Luther Harris, 1920-. Reminiscences of Luther Harris Evans: oral history, 1970.

PAPERS DATES: 1970

SIZE: 34 leaves

INCLUDES: Discusses Works Progress Administration, Historical Records Survey; Library of Congress, 1939 and 1945; UNESCO, 1949-1958; First meeting with Dwight D. Eisenhower as President of Columbia University; Interviewed by Donald North; Forms part of the Eisenhower administration project; (Copyright by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, 1976.) Permission required to cite, quote, and reproduce; Contact repository for information; Microfiche copy available for purchase; (Columbia University oral history collection, part III, published by Meckler Publishing, Westport, CT).

FINDING AID: Name index available

SOURCE: RLIN

LOCATION #6: Library of Congress

PAPERS DATES: 1920-1981

SIZE: 84,000 items, 117 containers, 8 microfilm reels, 46.8 linear feet

INCLUDES: Personal and professional files of Evans's work as director of the Historical Records Survey (U.S.), as Librarian of Congress, and member of the Unesco Executive Board. Also includes notes and drafts of writings, materials pertaining to his studies at the University of Texas at Austin and Stanford University, and lecture notes for classes he taught at Dartmouth and Princeton universities. Includes correspondence (1934-1942) of Francis S. Philbrick relating to the Historical Records Survey (U.S.).

FINDING AID: Available in the Library of Congress Manuscript Reading Room.

SOURCE: Library of Congress Catalog (https://lccn.loc.gov/mm82020008)