Victor J. Evans: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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[[File:Victor J Evans, from 'How to Obtain A Patent'.png|thumb|right|Victor Justice Evans, from 'How to Obtain A Patent']]

{{about|the British cricketeer|the British cricketeer|Victor Evans}}

'''Victor Justice Evans''' (1865-1931) was the founder one of the largest U.S. patent agencies of his time. Victor J. Evans & Company, Patent Attorneys, was founded in 1898. Evans built up a thriving business based in part on his willingness to offer full refunds to inventors if they were unsuccessful in securing the patents they desired.<ref name="DeFerrari">{{cite news |last1=DeFerrari |first1=John |title=Victor Evans and the Victor Building downtown |url=https://ggwash.org/view/9362/victor-evans-and-the-victor-building-downtown |access-date=11 April 2024 |work=Greater Greater Washington |date=May 19, 2011 |language=en}}</ref>

By the 1920s, Evans' firm was described as the “largest patent firm in the world”. In addition to its headquarters location in Washington, D.C., it had offices in in New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago and San Francisco. The Victor Building, headquarters of the firm, has a long history as an important Washington DC office building.<ref name="DeFerrari" /> It was initially completed in 1909 at Grant Place NW (now G Place) and 9th Street<ref name="DeFerrari"/> near the Patent Office.<ref name="DCHS">{{cite web |title=Victor Building |url=https://historicsites.dcpreservation.org/items/show/628 |access-date=11 April 2024 |website=DC Historic Sites |language=en}}</ref>. It was expanded twice, in 1911 by architect [[Appleton P. Clark Jr.]], and in 1925 by architect [[Waddy Butler Wood]].<ref name="DCHS" />

Evans' interests included [[aeronautics]], exotic animals, and Native American artifacts and artworks. He had his own private zoo. His collection of art and artifacts was considered one of the largest in the world at the time. He was a significant supporter of the [[Smithsonian National Zoo]], the [[Smithsonian American Art Museum]], and the [[Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History]] leaving them animals from his private zoo and art and artifacts from his Native American collection on his death.

== Patents and patent law ==

Victor Justice Evans was born in Delaware, Ohio, and lived in Minnesota before his family moved to Washington, D.C. Evans became a patent draftsman when he was 18, working with the firm J. Henry Kiser. There he learned about patents and patent law.<ref name="Streets">{{cite web |title=Victor Evans, Patent Attorney Extraordinaire |url=http://www.streetsofwashington.com/2011/05/victor-evans-patent-attorney.html |website=Streets of Washington |date=May 15, 2011 |access-date=11 April 2024 |language=en }}</ref>

Evans founded Victor J. Evans & Company, Patent Attorneys, in 1898, and developed it into one of the largest U.S. patent agencies by the 1920s. He offered inventors full refunds if the agency was unsuccessful in securing the patents they desired.<ref name="DeFerrari"/>

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Evans published several books on patents including {{cite book |title=Money in patents |oclc=681906320 |year=1914}}, {{cite book |title=What to invent : the evolution of invention ... |oclc=898384802 |year=1914}}, and the 80-page illustrated ''How to Obtain a Patent'' (1910).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fawcett |first1=Waldon |title=Inspiring inventive genius without overplaying the promise|journal=The Mailbag |date=1920|pages=73-7673–76|volume=4|issue=2 |publisher=Mailbag Publishing Company |url=https://wwwbooks.google.com/books/edition/The_Mailbag/nAE_AQAAMAAJ?hlid=en&gbpv=1nAE_AQAAMAAJ&dq=%22How+to+obtain+a+patent%22+Evans&pg=PA74&printsec=frontcover |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Advertisement|page=119|volume=3|issue=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8N0DAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA119 |work=Popular Mechanics |publisher=Hearst Magazines |date=March 1910 |language=en}}</ref>

== The Victor Building ==

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== Collections and philanthropy ==

Evans was active in a number of areas in addition to his patent work.

He was interested in exotic animals, and had his own private 10-acre zoo west of Foxhall Road off Hawthorne Lane NW.<ref name="Kelly">{{cite news |last1=Kelly |first1=John |title=John Kelly - 1920s Zoo Brought Tropics' Looks, Smells to NW |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092202938.html |access-date=11 April 2024 |worknewspaper=The Washington Post |date=23 September 2008}}</ref> He became a significant supporter of the [[Smithsonian National Zoo]]<ref name="DCHS"/> and left the majority of his animals to themthe zoo at his death, excepting any that his wife Zenobia wished to keep.<ref name="DeFerrari"/>

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Evans was an avid collector of photos and art, in particular Native American artifacts and artworks. His collection was considered to be one of the largest in the world.<ref name="DeFerrari"/> As a result of this interest, he became an advocate for Native American tribes.<ref name="DCHS"/> Unsuccessful in convincing the federal government to establish a site to host his extensive collections during his lifetime, he left them to the [[Smithsonian American Art MuseumInstitution]] at his death.<ref name="DeFerrari"/>

== References ==

<references />

{{Authority Control}}

Authority Control: VIAF [https://viaf.org/viaf/44207559/#Evans,_Victor_J. 44207559]

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[[Category:19th-century American lawyers ; 1865 births ; 1931 deaths]]

[[Category:1865 births]]

[[Category:1931 deaths]]