Collection contains correspondence, scrapbooks, albums, clippings, addresses, writings, and other materials that concern the personal lives and careers of the Evans family, particularly Emanuel J. and Sara Evans, their sons, Eli and Robert, and Emanuel's brother, Monroe. The family owned and operated United Department Stores, and for twelve years, 1951 to 1963, Emanuel Evans was mayor of Durham, NC. He was also very active in his synagogue, was a president of VISTAS, and participated actively in the University of North Carolina's Alumni Association.
There are two scrapbooks on Emanuel Evans's mayoral terms and a similar volume and other materials devoted to Mrs. Evans's activities as leader of Hadassah including items pertaining to Israel. Mr. Evans's mayoral correspondence is divided into a general file and a subject file. In pictures and personal correspondence, the Nachamson family is often represented. One early clipping from a Fayetteville, N.C. newspaper, tells of Mr. Evans's sister being refused teaching positions because of her Jewish faith. Eli Evans is a correspondent and writer, led the establishment of the National Jewish Archives of Broadcasting, and was on the staff of the Carnegie Foundation that helped launch "Sesame Street." He was president of the UNC student body and a number of items in the collection concern his presidency.
Also included is an address of Eli Evans presented during the conference on Southern-Jewish history in 1976, Eli Evans's vita, his unpublished diary of the Kissinger shuttle, and a large number of his writings, many concerning U.S. politics, minorities, and Jews in the South. There is a reprint of a chapter from his book, The Provincials, and reports from the Charles H. Revson Foundation, of which he is president. Also included are materials concerning Eli's brother Robert, a correspondent with CBS, who continued on as a television executive. Their uncle, Monroe Evans, was mayor of Fayetteville, NC, and his service is documented in several of the collection's scrapbooks.
One entire scrapbook is devoted to the writings of Mildred and Madeline Evans, Monroe's wife and daughter.
The audiovisual series contains a 16mm film copy of a 1957 episode of Edward R. Murrow's "See It Now," with which Robert Evans was involved, and a 16mm film copy of Governor Terry Sanford's November 1964 appearance on WUNC-TV, in which he reflects on his governorship and the current political scene. Several audio recordings capture Sara Evans addressing the Seaboard Regional Conference of Hadassah in 1982. Eli N. Evans's appearance on Richard D. Heffner's The Open Mind is documented.
