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Robert John Evans papers

 Collection
Identifier: MSS 8244

Scope and Contents

Collection contains 738 slides taken by Robert John Evans between 1965 and 1985. Majority of slides are photographs taken while on Travel Study Tours with Brigham Young University to places such as Europe and Mexico. Other slides demonstrate the performance of science experiments. Materials include 39 pages of handouts from Brigham Young University Travel Study Tours. Collection also includes journals of both personal and professional nature, materials from Evans' LDS mission to South Africa, church related papers and publications, two of his mother's journals, and assorted ephemera. Family correspondence is also included between Robert John Evans, his parents Robert James Evans and Alice Hazel Stallings Evans, and his son Robert Pugmire Evans. Family letters discuss church missions and family happenings. Materials dated 1918 to 1997.

Dates

  • 1918-1997

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Open for public research. Photographic slides are kept in cold storage; access requires 24 hours advance notice.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to use material from this collection must be obtained from Reference Services at specialcollections@byu.edu.

Biographical History

Alice Hazel Stallings Evans was born on November 25, 1885, in Coalville, Utah to parents Heber Joseph and Sarah Elizabeth Wilde Stallings. She attended Brigham Young University, where she met her husband, Robert James Evans. They were married on August 21, 1907, in Salt Lake City, Utah. After graduation from BYU, the family moved to Logan, Utah, where they attended Utah Agricultural College; Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where Rob earned a PhD; Lehi, Utah, where they farmed and raised a yard full of chickens; Ogden, Utah, where Rob taught at Weber College; back to Lehi, and then to Logan, Utah, where Rob served as the head of the Agronomy Department. Despite the many moves, Alice was highly active in church, club, and college activities. She served in Sunday School, Relief Society, Mutual leadership, Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, Kappa Delta Mother's Club, local football and basketball games, Faculty Women's League, and in her duties as wife of the chairman. She loved the social life and the people in each city they lived. Alice kept a tidy house, with all the normal duties of cooking, cleaning, and raising children. In 1954, when Rob retired, the family moved back to Lehi one last time, where Alice lived until her death on January 20, 1992, in Lehi, Utah.

Biographical History

Robert John Evans was born on March 18, 1909 in Logan, Utah to Robert James and Alice Hazel Stallings Evans. He attended schools in Logan, and then moved with his family to Lehi, Utah during high school. After graduating he attended Brigham Young University, where he ran for the track team. A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he served a mission to South Africa between 1929 and 1932. After his return he attended Utah State Agricultural College, where he earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry and mathematics, and a master's in poultry science. He continued his studies at the University of Wisconsin, earning his Ph.D. in the field in 1939. He returned to the West, working at Carbon College in Price, Utah and at the State College of Washington in Pullman. In 1941 he married Alice Pugmire, and they had two children.

In 1947, Evans took a position on the faculty of the Poultry Department of Michigan State University. He completed some advanced studies at Cambridge, England and Edinburgh, Scotland, but remained at Michigan until his retirement in 1977. He was internationally recognized as an expert in protein biochemistry, doing extensive work with eggs and beans.

He and his wife then moved back to Utah and settled in Ogden. During this time, he participated in travel study programs offered by Brigham Young University. Evans died on December 6, 1997, in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Biographical History

Robert Pugmire Evans was born in 1946 to parents Robert John and Alice Pugmire Evans. He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1966-1968 in the West Central States mission. He graduated from Brigham Young University in 1971. While at BYU he married Loretta Luce. After graduating from Brigham Young University, he then went on to receive a doctorate from Idaho State University in engineering and applied science, where his dissertation received a patent. He later started to work at the Idaho National Laboratory and published several papers in various engineering and national security subjects. As of 2014, he was a resident of Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Biographical / Historical

Robert James Evans (1881- 1967) was a father and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who lived in Utah. Robert James Evans was born in Lehi, Utah on July 2, 1881 to parents Abel John and Louisa Emmeline Zimmerman Evans. He graduated from the 8th grade at age 18 and shortly afterwards, was called to serve as a missionary in the Southern States mission. He served there from 1900-1902. Upon his return, Robert James began to study in what was then Brigham Young Academy and later Brigham Young University. He graduated in 1907 and in the same year married Alice Hazel Stallings. Together they moved to Logan, Utah, where Robert James attended Utah State Agricultural College. He later attended Cornell University. After receiving his education, Robert James worked for the Utah Experiment Station. He would later move back and forth between Logan and Lehi, Utah, balancing his formal job with work on the family farm. Robert James Evans passed away on September 5, 1967.

Extent

3 boxes (1.5 linear ft.)

6 cartons (6 linear ft.)

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

Arranged in eight series: 1. Robert John Evans slides of Michigan State University and science experiments, 1965-1973. 2. Robert John Evans slides and other material on Brigham Young University Travel Study, 1983-1985. 3. Robert John Evans missionary papers, 1929-1950. 4. Robert John Evans church papers, 1950-1997. 5. Alice Hazel Stallings Evans diaries, 1937-1938. 6. Robert John Evans ephemera, 1950-1990. 7. Robert John Evans journals, 1922-1994, bulk 1963-1964. 8. Robert John Evans and Alice Hazel Stallings Evans family correspondence, 1918-1985.

Series 8 arranged in 7 subseries: 1. Robert John Evans mission correspondence, 1929-1932. 2. Robert John Evans letters to Robert James Evans and Alice Hazel Stallings Evans, 1939-1977. 3. Robert James Evans and Alice Hazel Stallings Evans letters to Robert John Evans, 1955-1977. 4. Robert James Evans and Alice Hazel Stallings Evans family correspondence, 1930-1975. 5. Alice Hazel Stallings Evans correspondence, 1918-1977. 6. Robert John Evans and Alice Pugmire Evans letters to Robert Pugmire Evans, 1966-1979. 7. Robert Pugmire Evans correspondence, 1965-1985.

Custodial History

Collection was donated to the repository in 2012 and 2013 by Robert Pugmire Evans, and his wife, Loretta Evans. Family correspondence donated by Robert P. Evans in 2016.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated; Robert Pugmire and Loretta Evans; 2012, 2013.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated; Robert Pugmire Evans; 2016.

Appraisal

Utah and the American West and LDS cultural, social, and religious history (20th century Western & Mormon Manuscripts collection development policy, 5.VII, 2007).

Processing Information

Processed; Anne Ashton, 2013.

Processing Information

Processed; Margaret Weddle, student manuscript processor and John M. Murphy; 2014.

Processing Information

Processed; Natalee Hawkins, student manuscript processor, and John M. Murphy, curator; 2016.

Processing Information

Processed; Shaelyn Stohl, student manuscript processor, and John M. Murphy, curator; 2018.

Title
Register of Robert John Evans papers
Status
Completed
Author
Anne Ashton
Date
2013 August 14
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English in Latin script.

Repository Details

Part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Repository

Contact:
1130 HBLL
Brigham Young University
Provo Utah 84602 United States