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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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