Coming Full Circle
Colonel Evans possessed a deep passion for photography, consistently capturing cherished moments such as family gatherings, travel adventures, and business endeavors. He skillfully utilized photography and slides to support numerous presentations for fellow Air Force officers, commanders, management executives, business associates and political figures.
XB-70 Valkyrie model is admired by Richard Evans and Jimmy Stewart
Barbara in front of the XB-70 plane
During World War II, Colonel Evans diligently collected photographs from his Air Force service years. Subsequently, as a civilian, he continued photographing and collecting images to aid him in narrating the airplane project stories as a consultant for North American Aviation’s XB-70, Northrop Grumman’s B-1 competition, and Douglas's C-54.
At the peak of the Cold War, the United States was engaged in the development of an enormous, supersonic bomber, the XB-70, capable of reaching Mach 3. Two XB-70s were constructed, one of which tragically crashed. Notably, Colonel Evans had meticulously collected several exquisite color transparencies depicting the two soaring XB-70s.
To further the publication objectives of Evans’ book, we continue to provide the “Museum Edition” to aviation and military museums for research purposes. Last April, we met with the Manuscript Curator of the Research Division Archives at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. We donated the book, Richard Eager A Pilot’s Story…, as well as the XB-70 transparencies to the museum archives. We believed that the exceptional transparencies were a valuable addition to the XB-70 collections, given that the surviving XB-70 is currently displayed in its full scale at the museum.
In a remarkable turn of events, the book’s journey has come full circle. We are proud that all book proceeds are gifted to the Air Force Aid Society to support the Colonel Richard Ernest Evans Memorial fund, which is a permanent endowed fund that is used to provide educational scholarship every year to dependents of Airmen and Guardians.
Barbara presents the Richard Eager book to the museum manuscript curator.
The professional Manuscript Curator who assisted in the Proffer of Gift agreement, shared a personal connection to the Air Force with me. She is an Air Force dependent, and we both share a common heritage. Her parents are both Air Force veterans, and she received scholarship assistance from the Air Force Aid Society to pursue her education, ultimately earning a degree in museum studies. She later wrote to me, “I began my work at the NMUSAF as an intern in 2002 – and have been here ever since! Truly appreciate your father’s service, and the fact that you (and your husband) continue to advocate for lifting up those who work to preserve this important history….I processed your father’s collection – and just as I imagined – it was a JOY.”
It was a profound experience to meet someone who had benefited from the very scholarship program that Colonel Evans’ book aims to support.
Barbara Evans Kinnear
Further Articles
Barbara (“Bobbie”) Evans Kinnear, daughter of Colonel Richard Ernest Evans, joins historian and author, James Holland, on his podcast, “We Have Ways of Making You Talk”