Skip to content

Luther Harris Evans

Luther_Evans
Return to Pioneers Index

DATES:
1902-1981

WORKED AT:
LC

OTHER INFORMATION:
Opposed censorship of library holdings; Helped to draft the Universal Copyright Convention and to organize UNESCO; Director of Historical Records Survey, WPA; This program was characterized as "the greatest single achievement of any nation in describing and interpreting the records of its people" (Current Biography).

LC: 1939-?; Librarian 1945-?; 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; See Sittig, W.J. "Luther Evans: Man for a New Age," Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress 33(1976):251-67 for more information on Evans.

OFFICES:
ADI/ASIS Pres. 1950-52; Director-General of UNESCO 1953-58

PAPERS AT:
LOCATION #1
Columbia University Libraries, New York, NY

PAPERS DATES:
1925-1970

SIZE:
ca. 25,500 items

FINDING AID:
Correspondence, mss. of writings, reports, and related printed material documenting Evan's activities in law, international relations, and library service. Extensive files on Federal Library Survey Project, UNESCO.

SOURCE:
NUCMC, MS 78-680, p. 80.

PAPERS AT:
LOCATION #2
Columbia University, Rare books and Manuscripts, New York, NY; search under: Evans, Luther Harris, 1902-. Papers, 1952-1970.

PAPERS DATES:
1952-1970

SIZE:
23 linear feet (ca. 27,000 items in 55 boxes)

INCLUDES:
Correspondence, manuscripts, reports and printed materials; The papers, which consist to a large extent of mimeographed and printed reports of various organizations with which Evans was affiliated, chronicle a wide range of his activities in the fields of law, international relations, and library service; Gift of Luther Evans, 1975 and 1976; Transfer from Lehman Library, 1986; Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the Librarian for Rare Books and Manuscripts.

FINDING AID:
Contents list, 1p.

SOURCE:
RLIN

PAPERS AT:
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

PAPERS AT:
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

PAPERS AT:
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

PAPERS AT:
LOCATION #6
Library of Congress Manuscript Division.

INCLUDES:
No details available on this collection; Papers may be closed.

SOURCE:
Library of Congress.