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John Stark Evans was a composer, organist, and choral conductor who taught music at the University of Oregon. Evans was born in 1889 in Hampton, Iowa, and graduated from Grinnell College in 1913. In 1919, he began teaching music at the University of Oregon, andis credited with writing the "Pledge to Oregon," an anthem that continues to be performed by the University of Oregon Marching Band. In addition to his teaching duties, Evans was intrumental in forming the Eugene Gleeman, a renown men's chorus that perfomed at the San Francisco World's Fair, and was the organist and choir director at the First Presbyterian Church in Portland, Oregon. In 1943, Evans left the University of Oregon to become director of the College of Music at Lewis and Clark College, where he stayed until his retirement from academia in 1957. John Stark Evans died in 1958.
The John Stark Evans papers contain personal correspondence, photographs, and ephmera. Correspondence primarily consists of letters sent from Evans to his wife, Marjorie Grieg Evans, some of which discuss his position at the University of Oregon and administration politics. Photographs primarily consist of family and travel snapshots, including several of the of the Eugene Gleeman at the 1939 San Francisco World's Fair, and snapshot negatives. Ephemera includes newspaper clippings, newsletters, a program from the 1919 University of Oregon Summer Session, and a coin collection of primarily foreign currency.