Anne Evans was the youngest child of John Evans, governor of Colorado Territory, and Margaret Patten Gray Evans. Educated in Paris, Berlin, and New York, she had an active hand in the founding of some of Denver’s most lasting cultural institutions. Her influence had a far reach and has stood the test of time.
In 1893 Evans and her mother became two of the earliest members of the Denver Artists’ Club, which would later become the Denver Art Museum. Evans began serving on its governing council in 1896 while pursuing her studies at the Art Students League of New York. During this time, she encouraged members to expand the collection and, in 1925, she organized the first showing of Native American art in the association. A significant portion of her own collection of Puebloan and Spanish Colonial art was featured, and assisted in making the Denver Art Museum one of the first art museums in the country to show Native American works of art.
Evans was appointed to the Denver Public Library Commission and Mayor Robert W. Speer’s Municipal Arts Commission in 1907. During her time with the commission, she spearheaded the creation of four new branch libraries: Warren, Woodbury, Decker, and Dickinson. She also took on the creation of the Civic Center Park as a key project with the Municipal Arts Commission. Today, Civic Center Park is a National Historic Landmark.
In the early 1930s Evans cofounded the Central City Opera Association with Ida Kruse McFarlane and Edna Chappell. In 1932 Evans helped establish the Central City Opera Festival and secured the funds to save the opera house from demolition.
Our own Center for Colorado Women’s History was Anne Evans’s family home in Denver. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In light of Women's History Month, we'd like to introduce you to the Byers and Evans families—whose former home is now the site of our Center for Colorado Women's History.
Starting in 1883, the Byers-Evans House was home to several inspiring Colorado women whose lasting impact is still felt today. Explore this timeline to hear the stories of the many women who lived and worked in the home and how they influenced Denver's early history.
Barbara E. Sternberg was a member of the Denver Woman’s Press Club who in 2011 wrote the biography Anne Evans—A Pioneer in Colorado’s Cultural History. This article is reprinted with permission from the blog Sternberg developed after this book was published. Anne Evans was a resident of the present-day Center for Colorado Women’s History at the Byers-Evans House Museum, one of the statewide Community Museums of History Colorado.
The late Barbara E. Sternberg was a member of the Denver Woman’s Press Club who in 2011 wrote the biography Anne Evans—A Pioneer in Colorado’s Cultural History. This article is reprinted with permission from the blog Sternberg developed after this book was published. Anne Evans was a resident of the present-day Center for Colorado Women’s History at the Byers-Evans House Museum, one of History Colorado's museums.
