Evans, Raymond Oscar (1887 – 1954)

Ray Evans original cartoon artwork

After graduating from Ohio State University in 1910, Ray Evans became an advertising artist for The Columbus Dispatch. In 1911 he was able to get Fisher an interview with editor Arthur Johnson Sr to begin his career. He then worked for part of 1912 with The Dayton Daily News. Evans moved to Baltimore, where he became a political cartoonist for The Baltimore American around 1913 and stayed there through 1922. From 1920 to 1922 he was also a staff artist for the Baltimore News. During his time in Baltimore, he began to make a name for himself, and his works were published in magazines such as The Literary Digest, Judge, The Outlook, Life, and Puck. He taught cartooning at the Maryland Institute College of Art. In 1922 Evans moved back to Columbus and began working at The Dispatch again as an artist. During the Second World War, Evans continued working at The Dispatch but also produced propaganda material for the U.S. government and the Red Cross. By the late 1940s, Evans had become the chief cartoonist for The Dispatch and had hired his son, Ray Evans Jr, to work with him.