Luther H. Evans

Luther Harris Evans (13 October 1902 – 23 December 1981) was an American political scientist who served as the tenth Librarian of Congress and third Director-General of UNESCO.

Born in Sayersville in Bastrop County, Texas in 1902, Evans received his BA in 1923 and MA in 1924 from the University of Texas at Austin and his PhD from Stanford University in 1927, all in political science.

He taught political science at New York University, Dartmouth College, and Princeton University from 1927 until 1935. Evans left Princeton University abruptly after a faculty dispute.

Friends referred him for help to the powerful Lehman family of New York, who got him an appointment with Harry Hopkins, the advisor to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. At a meeting in the White House, Hopkins asked the young professor to propose a plan for a project Hopkins already wanted to do. Evans went back the next day and told Hopkins that the project wasn't worth doing. Instead, he pointed out that the States Archives of the United States were in a state of disarray with profound consequences to American history. Hopkins said, "Dr. Evans, you have a lot of guts—I know you have no money and that your wife is nine months pregnant, and I have never thought about the state archives. But I hear that you have a good reputation." This is how Evans came to organize and direct the Historical Records Survey for the Works Project Administration from 1935 to 1939. Evans was later commended for successfully navigating the "frequently heated political environment of Harry Hopkins' WPA" despite his relative youth and inexperience.

After this, he was appointed by Librarian of Congress, Archibald MacLeish, as 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. During his tenure, Evans opposed censorship of the library's holdings,^{[citation needed]} and greatly expanded the library's collection.

Well versed in international relations, Evans also returned a number of manuscripts to their countries of origin. He helped draft the Universal Copyright Convention at Geneva in 1952.

During McCarthyism, Evans voluntarily instituted the Federal Loyalty Program at the Library of Congress, placing Verner Clapp in charge of a loyalty board to examine current and potential employees regarding communism and homosexuality. This program resulted in numerous employees being fired or resigning for their political or sexual orientation, and William Carlos Williams was prevented from being appointed to the post of United States Poet Laureate. Evans told Karl Shapiro "we don't want any Communists or cocksuckers in this library."

The Library of Congress exhibit, "Freedom's Fortress," covers the tenure of MacLeish and Evans: 1939–1953 during World War II and the founding of UNESCO.