Charles L. Evans, Sr., Ph.D. (July 23, 1945–August 21, 2013)
Charles L. Evans, Sr., Ph.D. (July 23, 1945–August 21, 2013) President Emeritus, Tallahassee Branch NAACP Years of Service: 1990–1998 | 2003–2008 Chairman of Education, Florida State Conference of NAACP Branches Years of Service: 1989-2008 Associate Dean, Professor of Marketing/Director, Graduate Programs Florida A&M University School of Business and Industry: 1982–2013 Dr. Charles Leonard “Chuck” Evans, Sr., veteran civil rights leader, distinguished educator, humanitarian, philanthropist, administrator, community activist. Dr. Evans grew up in segregated Durham, North Carolina, the fifth of seven children born to Walter Samuel Evans and Pauline Parker Evans on July 23, 1945. While in high school, he joined the local NAACP campaigns for jobs, voting rights and desegregation. He worked with his cousin, Walter Riley, to organize a bus trip including high school students to the now famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom of 1963. The previous year, he led a successful picket protest of students of the segregated Royal Ice Cream Parlor on Roxboro Street, eventually shutting down the business. In 1963, Dr. Evans graduated as Valedictorian from Merrick– Moore High School and matriculated to North Carolina A&T State University. He graduated in 1967, majoring in Engineering Mathematics. As a student, he became an activist, participating in marches, sit-ins, and voting rights campaigns. His dream was to become an Air Force pilot; but he was denied commission when an Air Force Officer claimed he had a curvature of the spine and booted him out of the ROTC program. Undeterred, Dr. Evans applied to the Navy’s Officer Training Pilot Program and was accepted.
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