May Garrettson Evans

May Garrettson Evans (October 28, 1866-January 12, 1947) was the first female reporter for the Baltimore Sun. She founded and directed the preparatory school of the Peabody Conservatory for over 30 years. An Edgar Allan Poe scholar, she made several important discoveries regarding Poe in Baltimore.

Early life May Garrettson Evans was one of eight children of Henry Cotheal Evans and Mary Elizabeth Garrettson. She was educated at the Georgetown Convent of the Visitation and studied violin at the Peabody Conservatory from 1886 to 1889.

Baltimore Sun Evans started her journalism career assisting her brother, Baltimore Sun reporter Henry Ridgely Evans. Evans joined the Baltimore Sun in 1888 as a reporter and music and drama critic. Assigned to the night shift, Evans was initially chaperoned by her mother, but soon went to work alone with a stiletto for protection.

Evans worked for the Sun from 1888 to 1895. She said decades later "My adventure into the newspaper field created a commotion. At first I was more interviewed than interviewing. I had to explain myself everywhere."

The preparatory school was incorporated into the Peabody Institute in 1898 under Hamerik's successor Harold Randolph. It became the Peabody Preparatory Department with Evans as superintendent and her sister as associate superintendent. Over the years, the school expanded to offer classes in dance and music appreciation and started a community singing program. The preparatory school moved into Leakin Hall in 1926. Evans made two important discoveries regarding Poe in Baltimore. She discovered that the marker indicating the site of Poe's original burial was in the wrong location and published an extensive article on the subject in the Sun in 1920. The marker was moved to the correct place the next year. When urban renewal threatened to raze the area containing Poe's Amity Street home in 1938, Evans' research was able to pinpoint the exact house Poe had lived in and it was preserved by the Poe Society as the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum.

Death and legacy May Garrettson Evans died on January 13, 1947.