W. Leonard Evans, Jr.
| W. Leonard Evans, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born |
William Leonard Evans, Jr. 1914 Louisville, Kentucky |
| Died | May 22, 2007 Tucson, Arizona |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Illinois |
| Spouse(s) | Maudelle Evans |
| Children | 2 sons |
| Parent(s) | William L. Evans, Sr. and Beatrice Evans |
W. Leonard Evans, Jr. (1914 - 2007) was an African American businessman whose enterprises included Tuesday magazine and the National Negro Network.
He was born William Leonard Evans, Jr. in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of William L. Evans, Sr. and Beatrice Evans. His father was an architect and secretary of the National Urban League.
After two years at Fisk University, Evans transferred to the University of Illinois, where he graduated with a degree in business in 1935.
In the 1940s, as a member of the Associated Publishers newspaper representatives, Evans was part of "one of the first extensive studies to examine the purchasing habits of black consumers in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C."
Following his work with Associated Publishers, Evans had his own advertising agency (Evans and Durham, Inc.) in New York City before joining Arthur Meyerhoff & Company as an advertising executive in Chicago. After four years with Meyerhoff, "Evans reduced his role at the firm and opened a second agency in Chicago ... [and] created Negro market campaigns for companies such as Pet Milk, Philip Morris cigarettes, Wrigley gum, and Armour meat products."
In December 1953, while Evans was an account supervisor at the Meyerhoff agency, he organized the National Negro Network of radio stations. The network was "composed of approximately 40 basic stations" and was expected "to reach approximately 12 million of the 15 million Negroes in America." The network operated just over a year before Evans ended it because of insufficient advertising.
Evans began Tuesday magazine in 1965, with the formation of Tuesday Publications. He chose that name because Tuesday was "the traditional press day for Negro weeklies".
The publication "featured positive stories on African American life, politics, and culture." Evans, who was the magazine's editor and publisher, summarized the magazine's role by saying, "Look and Life are basically published for whites but also read by Negros. Tuesday is basically published for Negros and read by whites too."
Tuesday was inserted as a supplement every other month in nine metropolitan general-circulation newspapers, including the Chicago Sun-Times, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and the Philadelphia Sunday Bulletin. Its first printing "reached over 1.3 million homes".
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