Evelyn (Edison) Newman (July 25, 1920 – September 1, 2015) was known for her fundraising and charitable contributions to the city of

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

including Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House at Faust County Park, Forest Park Forever, Forest Park Conservancy. Along with her husband Eric P. Newman, they have established the Eric P. Newman Education Center at

Washington University School of Medicine Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) is the medical school of Washington University in St. Louis in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1891, the School of Medicine has 1,260 students, 604 of which are pursuing a medical degree with ...

and the Newman Money Museum at Washington University's Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts.

Early life

Evelyn Newman was born in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

. She moved to St. Louis, Missouri when the family shoe business, Edison Brothers Inc., relocated. She graduated from

John Burroughs School John Burroughs School (JBS) is a private, non-sectarian college-preparatory school with 631 students in grades 7– 12. Its 49-acre () campus is located in Ladue, Missouri (US), a suburb of St. Louis. Founded in 1923, it is named for U.S. natu ...

in 1937, and attended

Goucher College Goucher College ( ') is a private liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland. It was chartered in 1885 by a conference in Baltimore led by namesake John F. Goucher and local leaders of the Methodist Episcopal Church.https://archive.org/details/h ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

but later transferred to Washington University in St Louis. On November 29, 1939 she married the American

numismatist A numismatist is a specialist in numismatics ("of coins"; from Late Latin ''numismatis'', genitive of ''numisma''). Numismatists include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholars who use coins and other currency in object-based research. Altho ...

Eric P. Newman.

Career

Newman began her retail experience working for the May Department Stores Co. She then joined

Edison Brothers Stores Edison Brothers Stores, Inc., was a retail conglomerate based in St. Louis, Missouri. It operated numerous retail chains mainly located in shopping malls, mostly in the fields of shoes, clothing and entertainment, with Bakers Shoes as its flagship ...

working as a buyer and later developer of retail concepts. In the late 1940s, Edison Brothers was the largest chain of women's shoe stores in the country. In 1982, she established the Evelyn E. Newman Group, which helped to bring business expertise and sensible business practices to not-for-profit organizations.

Philanthropy

Newman was known as the "queen of fundraising" in the St. Louis community. In 1960, she helped create a high-end used clothing store to support the Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis. Since then, ScholarShop stores in

Webster Groves Webster Groves is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 22,995 at the 2010 census. The city is home to the main campus of Webster University. Geography Webster Groves is located at ( ...

and Clayton generated about $23 million in interest-free loans and grants for college students. She is also noted with establishing such local traditions as the Greater St. Louis Book Fair, the Gypsy Caravan (benefiting the St. Louis Symphony), the Little Shop Around the Corner (benefiting the Missouri Botanical Garden), as well as the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House at Faust County Park in

Chesterfield, MO Chesterfield is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. It is a western suburb of St. Louis. As of the 2020 census, the population was 49,999, . The broader valley of Chesterfield was originally referred to as "Gumbo Flats", derive ...

which was inspired from her travels to

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

visiting the butterfly house. In the 1980s, Newman was the first executive director of Forest Park Forever, the nonprofit organization that has helped turn

Forest Park A forest park is a park whose main theme is its forest of trees. Forest parks are found both in the mountains and in the urban environment. Examples Chile * Forest Park, Santiago China *Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai * Mufushan National Fores ...

into one of the region's biggest attractions, which has grown to a $6.5 million annual operating budget and an endowment of more than $75 million. Newman was a co-founding director in 1980 of The First Street Forum, what is now Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis.

Awards and honors

Evelyn Newman has an honorary doctorate from the

University of Missouri–St. Louis The University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL) is a public research university in St. Louis, Missouri. Established in 1963, it is one of four universities in the University of Missouri System and its newest. Located on the former grounds of Bel ...

and received the Robert S. Brookings Award from

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

. She was also the first recipient of the Award for Lifetime Achievement of the Arts & Education Council.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newman, Evelyn 1920 births 2015 deaths People from Atlanta People from St. Louis 20th-century American philanthropists Goucher College alumni Washington University in St. Louis alumni