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Many
towns and cities in East Texas have
in their history individuals who ascended to greatness, but fell to earth when
they opened their mouth at the wrong time.
Such was Medford Bryan Evans,
a college professor, author and editor who was born in Lufkin
in 1927, the son of Lysander and Bird Medford Evans.
With his brilliant
mind, Evans graduated magna cum laude from the University of Chattanooga in 1927
and took his Ph. D from Yale University in 1933.
He taught at the University
of Mississippi and the Texas College of Arts and Industries (now Texas A&M of
Kingsville), the University of Tennessee, the University of the South, McMurry
College, and Northwestern State.
Evans also worked for a Chattanooga radio
station and the Atomic Energy Commission at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Washington,
D.C.
But Evans soon became a member of the John Birch Society and often
wrote for American Opinion, the Society’s monthly magazine.
He also wrote
several controversial books, including “The Secret War for the A-Bomb” and “Civil
Right Myths and Communist Realities,” which reflected his belief in communist
subversion in the U.S.
In writing about what American children were being
taught in American Opinion magazine, he said:
“It is my opinion that the
average graduate of a non-elite college today knows little than the average graduate
of an accredited high school knew thirty years ago...there is not much you can
depend on any of them, knowing simply by virtue of the fact that they have college
degrees...”
Evans also contributed articles on educational trends to Harper’s
Magazine and newspapers. His usual topic was “What are we teaching our children?”
Evans, who died in 1989, was the father of M. Stanton Evans, an American journalist
and author of eight books, including “Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story
of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies.”
Bob
Bowman's East Texas
February 20, 2011 Column.
A weekly column syndicated in 109 East Texas newspapers
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