Home > THE EVANS LIBRARY > Our Library Name

* text quote excerpted from speech made 9/98 when library endowment was announced

The Naming of a Library.....

FMCC RECEIVES ITS LARGEST GIFT EVER

Johnstown, NY (September 17, 1998)-The largest gift ever received by Fulton- Montgomery Community College (FMCC) came from one of its oldest friends.

Foundation officials today announced a gift of $400,000 from The Richard and Rebecca Evans Foundation. While part of the gift will help The Campaign For FMCC renovate the college union and physical education building, the remainder will establish a new fund to enhance the college library after the capital campaign ends. The Evans Foundation doubled their gift to The Campaign For FMCC from $30,000 to $60,000 and will make an additional gift of $340,000 for the campus library.

In response to the gift--and in honor of the Evans family's longtime involvement with FMCC-the college's Board of Trustees approved a motion to name the library "The Evans Library."

"Fulton-Montgomery Community College needs to continue to grow and improve in order to prepare its students for the future," said Morris Evans, the son of Richard and Rebecca Evans, who serves as foundation president. "We feel that a progressive library is a crucial element at this institution."

Support of FMCC has long been part of the Evans Foundation's heritage. The Evans Foundation Art Prize, for example, awards $200 annually to an exceptional art student. The Richard Evans II Prize in English gives $100 to a graduating student with high academic achievement in English and promise of future success. In 1981, the Foundation donated and later refurbished, a sculpture familiar to everyone on campus: a red steel column of triangles and rectangles, commissioned from sculptor Daniel Barrett.

Both Richard and Rebecca Evans distinguished themselves as leaders in the region. Richard Evans founded Lee Dyeing Company of Johnstown in 1948, where he held the posts of chairman and CEO until his death in 1972. A member of several local clubs, he served on the Johnstown City Council and the Board of the Johnstown YMCA.

"A library is a particularly fitting memorial to my father," said Nancy Evans Hayes, vice president of the foundation. "When he died, he was simultaneously reading The Loom of Language: The Origin of Words by Bodmer and The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbon."

With her husband, Rebecca Evans presided over Lee Dyeing as executive chairman of the board. She also involved herself extensively with her community. A longtime resident of Johnstown, she was one of the first women to serve on FMCC's Board of Trustees. As a life member and onetime president of the Montgomery County Historical Society, she was instrumental in developing Fort Johnson as an important historic site. She also organized the candy-striper program at Johnstown Hospital and was an active member in many other organizations.

"My father felt that since his success was achieved in Fulton County, this community should be the primary recipient of his philanthropy," said Nancy Evans Hayes. "Our mother's interest in the community and in education dovetails beautifully with this pledge."

Carrying the theme "Rebuilding a College...Reshaping Our Futures," The Campaign For FMCC is seeking private donations to renovate both the college union and the physical education building. The State University of New York has pledged to match every private contribution dollar-for-dollar. Part of the Evans Foundation grant applies to The Campaign for FMCC and will be eligible for matching funds through the capital campaign.

Founded in 1963, Fulton-Montgomery Community College meets the educational needs of the region through 54 academic programs. With a commitment to affordable education, the college has graduated 10,000 students and enrolled nearly 225,000 in its diversity of courses. In addition to standard curricula, programs focus on work force development, career learning, welfare-to-work and continuing education.

[Press release -   9/17/98]