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Ida M. Evans

{{short description|American writer (~1886 – post-1944)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Ida M. Evans

| image = IdaMEvans1919.png

| alt = A white woman in an oval frame; she is wearing her hair in a bouffant updo, and her dark dress or top has a v-neckline

| caption = from a 1919 publication

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| birth_place = Red Oak, Iowa

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| occupation = Writer

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Ida M. Evans (born about 1886 – died after 1944) was an American short story writer most successful in the 1910s and 1920s. Several of her stories were adapted for the screen in the 1910s.

Early life

Ida May Evans was born in Red Oak, Iowa. In the 1890s she attended and taught at her grandfather's school short-lived school,{{Cite book|last=Laclede County Genealogical Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JGFAO7WyPSwC&dq=Hamilton+White+College+Lebanon+Missouri&pg=PA25|title=Laclede County, Missouri: History and Families|date=2000|publisher=Turner Publishing Company|isbn=978-1-56311-549-3|language=en}} Hamilton White College in Lebanon, Missouri.{{Cite journal|date=June 1918|title=We Have With Us|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-dA2AQAAMAAJ&dq=Ida+M.+Evans+writer&pg=RA5-PA134|journal=Good Housekeeping|volume=66|pages=134–135}}{{Cite news|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=1934-08-05|title=Chinnon Descendant and the Law|pages=31|work=The News and Observer|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84916156/chinnon-descendant-and-the-lawida-m/|access-date=2021-09-07|via=Newspapers.com}}

Career

Evans worked in "wholesale millinery houses" in Chicago and Omaha when she began writing.{{Cite news|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=1935-12-15|title=Dolls and Drums|pages=38|work=The News and Observer|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84914202/dolls-and-drumsida-m-evans/|access-date=2021-09-07|via=Newspapers.com}} Her first stories began appearing in print in 1911.{{Cite web|title=Stories, Listed by Author: Ida M. Evans|url=http://www.philsp.com/homeville/gfi/n00177.htm#A331|access-date=2021-09-07|website=The General Fiction Magazine Index}} "I was mighty careful to keep working at the wholesale houses for my bread and butter, until my stories began to sell fast enough to provide plenty of butter" she explained in 1918. She wrote short stories for national publications including American Magazine,{{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=January 1918|title=Omelets for Violets|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Ms9AQAAMAAJ&dq=Ida+M.+Evans+story&pg=PA15|journal=American Magazine|volume=85|pages=13–15, 78}} Everybody's,{{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=December 1918|title=Ethel Lavvander's Husband|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8hFk42IWIt4C&dq=Ida+M.+Evans+story&pg=RA4-PT2|journal=Everybody's Magazine|volume=39|pages=30–34, 63}} McClure's,{{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=April 1917|title=Brew of Ashes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nuk6AQAAMAAJ&dq=Ida+M.+Evans+story&pg=RA7-PA14|journal=McClure's Magazine|volume=48|pages=14–16, continued}} Good Housekeeping,{{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=February 1920|title=The Eternal Biangle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A1k5AQAAMAAJ&dq=Ida+M.+Evans+story&pg=PA33|journal=Good Housekeeping|volume=70|pages=33–35, 213}} Red Book,{{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=October 1913|title=A Pink Feather|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pjDo4Iup5GIC&dq=Ida+M.+Evans+writer&pg=PA1126|journal=Redbook|volume=18|pages=1126–1137}} Hearst's International,{{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=June 1924|title=The Fifth Estate|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qgPnAAAAMAAJ&dq=Ida+M.+Evans+story&pg=RA13-PA39|journal=Hearst's International|volume=45|pages=39–41, 135}} Cosmopolitan,{{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=May 1922|title=Monday for the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i3s4AQAAMAAJ&dq=Ida+M.+Evans+story&pg=RA5-PA53|journal=The Cosmopolitan|volume=72|pages=53–57, 100}} The Saturday Evening Post,{{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=July 22, 1922|title=A 'Character-Genesis' Story|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z71NAQAAMAAJ&dq=Ida+M.+Evans+story&pg=RA12-PA29|journal=The Editor|volume=58|pages=29}} and The Green Book Magazine.{{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=September 1916|title=Being Kind to Anne|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=InvNAAAAMAAJ&dq=Ida+M.+Evans+writer&pg=PA502|journal=The Green Book Magazine|volume=16|pages=502–512}} Her story "On the Banks of Wabash Avenue" (1918, Good Housekeeping) was illustrated by James Montgomery Flagg.{{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=June 1918|title=On the Banks of Wabash Avenue|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-dA2AQAAMAAJ&dq=Ida+M.+Evans+writer&pg=RA5-PA37|journal=Good Housekeeping|volume=66|pages=38–41, 161}}

Several of Evans's stories were adapted for the screen as silent films: A Question of Hats and Gowns (1914, from "Town Pumps and Gold Leaf"),{{Cite journal|date=May 1, 1914|title=Edison Releases since March 1, 1914|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k64KqzJwJvAC&dq=Ida+M.+Evans+story&pg=RA17-PA17|journal=The Edison Kinetogram|volume=8|pages=17}} Virginia (1916, short), It Makes a Difference (1917, short), Limousine Life (1918),{{Cite journal|date=January 5, 1918|title=Triangle Finishes Two New Stories|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gwxKAQAAMAAJ&dq=Ida+M.+Evans+story&pg=PA27|journal=Motography|volume=19|pages=27}} The Way of a Man with a Maid (1918),{{Cite book|last=Sigler|first=Lora Ann|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OAIaEAAAQBAJ&dq=Ida+M.+Evans+story&pg=PA32|title=Clothes Make the Character: The Role of Wardrobe in Early Motion Pictures|year=2021|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-4216-1|pages=32–33|language=en}}{{Cite news|date=1919-04-16|title='That's the Story!' Quoth Mr. Washburn|pages=5|work=The Champaign Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84914581/thats-the-story-quoth-mr-washburn/|access-date=2021-09-07|via=Newspapers.com}} and The Path She Chose (1920, based on the same story as Virginia). Other stories were bought for screen adaptation,{{Cite news|date=1927-10-11|title=First National Buys Stories|pages=28|work=The Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84931219/first-national-buys-stories/|access-date=2021-09-08|via=Newspapers.com}} and "Marry in Haste", was adapted in 1935 by Lockie Ingle.{{Cite book|last=Office|first=Library of Congress Copyright|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=41ljAAAAIAAJ&dq=Ida+M.+Evans+story&pg=PA13|title=Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [C] Group 3. Dramatic Composition and Motion Pictures. New Series|date=1938|pages=13|language=en}}

Some sources conflate Ida M. Evans and Ida M. Adams, an actress and singer flourishing in the same period.{{Cite book|last=Vogel|first=Michelle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JrJ7JNcLaR0C&dq=Ida+M.+Evans+story&pg=PA163|title=Olive Thomas: The Life and Death of a Silent Film Beauty|year=2014|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-5526-3|pages=162–163|language=en}} There is no mention of a stage or music career in biographical notes about or by this author.{{Cite journal|date=January 1913|title=Writers of the Day|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n2pJAQAAMAAJ&dq=Ida+M.+Evans+story&pg=PA57|journal=The Writer|volume=25|pages=57}}{{Cite journal|date=August 1, 1917|title=Contemporary Writers and their Work|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WHxlVbDdXuEC&dq=Ida+M.+Evans+story&pg=PA141|journal=The Editor|volume=46|pages=141}}{{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=July 21, 1917|title=Who's Who and Why|journal=The Saturday Evening Post|volume=190|pages=23, 82}}

Selected stories by Ida M. Evans

  • "A Pink Feather" (1913, Red Book)
  • "The Girl Who Came Back" (1913, Red Book){{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=November 1913|title=The Girl Who Came Back|journal=Red Book Magazine|volume=22|pages=91–100|via=}}
  • "Out of the Frying Pan" (1914, Red Book){{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=September 1914|title=Out of the Frying Pan|journal=Red Book Magazine|volume=23|pages=897–906|via=}}
  • "The Home that Eva Furnished" (1914, Red Book){{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=May 1914|title=The Home that Eva Furnished|journal=Red Book|volume=23|pages=133–144|via=}}
  • "Being Kind to Anne" (1916, Green Book)
  • "Marthy" (1916, Red Book){{Cite web|date=May 1916|title=Contents Lists: The Red Book Magazine|url=http://www.philsp.com/homeville/gfi/k00658.htm#A1|access-date=2021-09-07|website=The General Fiction Magazine Index}}
  • "Brew of Ashes" (1917, McClure's)
  • "On the Banks of Wabash Avenue" (1918, Good Housekeeping)
  • "The Old Order Changeth" (1918, Red Book){{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=November 1918|title=The Old Order Changeth|journal=Red Book Magazine|volume=32|pages=31–36, 150–153|via=}}
  • "The Lonesome Club" (1918, Red Book){{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=August 1918|title=The Lonesome Order Changeth|journal=Red Book Magazine|volume=31|pages=87–92, 124, 127–128|via=}}
  • "Omelets for Violets" (1918, American Magazine)
  • "Ethel Lavvander's Husband" (1918, Everybody's)
  • "Violet Eyes" (1919, Cosmopolitan){{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=July 1919|title=Violet Eyes|journal=Cosmopolitan|volume=67|pages=59–64, 121–122, 124, 126, 128|via=}}
  • "The Heavy Mantle of Helen" (1919, Good Housekeeping){{Cite news|date=1919-09-18|title=Good Housekeeping for September|pages=4|work=The Garnett Review|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84917131/good-housekeeping-for-september/|access-date=2021-09-07|via=Newspapers.com}}
  • "Golden Apples" (1920, Green Book){{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=January 1920|title=Golden Apples|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8TLmAAAAMAAJ&dq=Evans&pg=PA65|journal=The Green Book Magazine|volume=23|pages=65–70}}
  • "The Eternal Biangle" (1920, Good Housekeeping)
  • "Yellows" (1921, Good Housekeeping){{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=November 1921|title=Yellows|journal=Good Housekeeping|volume=73|pages=52-55, 132-136|via=}}
  • "Her Place in the Sun" (1921, Cosmopolitan){{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=January 1921|title=Her Place in the Sun|journal=Cosmopolitan|volume=70|pages=53–57, 90, 92, 94, 96|via=}}
  • "Monday for the World" (1922, Cosmopolitan)
  • "The Jazz Jessalyns" (1923, Red Book, also serialized in 1924, Washington Star){{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=October 1923|title=The Jazz Jessalyns|journal=Red Book Magazine|volume=41|pages=66–71, 170, 172, 174, 176, 178|via=}}{{Cite book|last=Ida M. Evans|url=http://archive.org/details/TheJazzJessalyns|title=The Jazz Jessalyns}}
  • "Natalie Comes Through" (1923, Red Book){{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=July 1924|title=Natalie Comes Through|journal=Red Book Magazine|volume=43|pages=66, 66a, 67–70, 136–137, 139–140|via=}}
  • "On the Hip" (1924, Red Book){{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=January 1924|title=On the Hip|journal=Red Book|volume=42|pages=76–81, 126, 128–130|via=}}
  • "The Fifth Estate" (1924, Hearst's International)
  • "And They Called Him a Fool" (1926, Hearst's International){{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=June 1926|title=And They Called Him a Fool|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gDsgAQAAMAAJ&dq=Evans&pg=RA5-PA98|journal=Hearst's International|volume=80|pages=98–99}}
  • "The Bitter Samaritan" (1927, Hardin Tribune-Herald){{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=September 16, 1927|title=The Bitter Samaritan|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-sep-16-1927-2683703/|journal=Hardin Tribune-Herald|pages=7|via=NewspaperArchive.com}}
  • "Pavilion Queen" (1927, The Country Gentleman)
  • "The Night Club Hostess" (1929, Red Book){{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=April 1929|title=The Night Club Hostess|url=https://archive.org/details/RedbookV052N04192904/page/n5/mode/2up?q=Evans|journal=Red Book Magazine|volume=52|pages=90–93|via=Internet Archive}}
  • "Dollar Babies" (1930, Hearst's International){{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=April 1930|title=Dollar Babies|journal=Hearst's International|volume=88|pages=70–73, 189–194|via=}}
  • "Pearls for Marguery Nolan" (1931, St. Louis Globe Democrat){{Cite news|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=1931-08-30|title=Pearls for Marguery Nolan|pages=52|work=St. Louis Globe-Democrat|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84916036/pearls-for-marguery-nolanida-m-evans/|access-date=2021-09-07|via=Newspapers.com}}
  • "Chinnon Descendant and the Law" (1934, The News and Observer)
  • "Dolls and Drums" (1935, The News and Observer)
  • "Bird of Passage" (1942, Pittsburgh-Sun-Telegraph){{Cite news|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=1942-01-24|title=Bird of Passage|pages=16|work=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84916371/bird-of-passageida-m-evans/|access-date=2021-09-07|via=Newspapers.com}}
  • "The Christmas Star is White" (1942, The News and Observer){{Cite news|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=1942-12-13|title=The Christmas Star is White|pages=18|work=The News and Observer|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84914972/the-christmas-star-is-whiteida-m-evans/|access-date=2021-09-07|via=Newspapers.com}}
  • "House of Gloom" (1944, Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph){{Cite news|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=1944-11-13|title=House of Gloom|pages=16|work=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84914403/house-of-gloomida-m-evans/|access-date=2021-09-07|via=Newspapers.com}}
  • "House Party" (1949, Mirror News){{Cite news|last=Evans|first=Ida M.|date=1949-12-10|title=House Party|pages=44|work=Mirror News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84932100/house-partyida-m-evans/|access-date=2021-09-08}}

Personal life

Evans lived in Chicago and Los Angeles.

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • {{IMDb name|id=0262840}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Ida M.}}

Category:20th-century American women writers

Category:American women short story writers

Category:People from Red Oak, Iowa

Category:1880s births

Category:20th-century deaths

Category:Year of birth uncertain

Category:Year of death unknown

Category:20th-century American short story writers