Manchester’s John Rylands Library has taken on the Sir Harold Evans archive.
Born in Eccles in 1928 and educated in Manchester, he is considered one of the most important newspapermen of the twentieth century, Sir Harry began as a schoolboy reporter for The Ashton-under-Lyne Reporter,he graduated began work at the Manchester Evening News rising to become an assistant editor.
Becoming editor of the Northern Echo in the early 1960’s he then rose to editor of The Sunday Times
As editor, despite intense pressure from the government to remain silent, he published the story that Kim Philby was a Soviet spy.
He campaigned tirelessly for the posthumous pardon of Timothy Evans, who was falsely convicted and executed for the murder of his wife and daughter.
This case was pivotal in the abolition of the death penalty.
But he is best remembered for his relentless decade-long campaign to compensate the victims of the morning sickness pill thalidomide, during which he was able to overturn several legal restrictions on the UK press.
He fell out with Rupert Murdoch and moved across the Atlantic founding his own Condé Nast Traveller magazine and presiding over the publisher, Random House USA.
His work was characterised by his dedication to campaigning against injustice and for the freedom of the press and now will be home to his legacy.
The archive spans the 1930s to 2000s and includes records on all the different phases of his life and career.
The collection includes school reports and juvenilia, diaries (including one dating back to his RAF National Service) articles, press cuttings and correspondence, awards, photographs and extensive research notes for his many books and publications.
It will be of great interest to academic researchers and students including those interested in the history of the press and investigative journalism and twentieth-century America.
