UNCG’s Record
Gift for Learning

Harriet Shain ’53 and Jerome Evenson met as youngsters in Wilmington, N.C. Both were the children of successful merchant fathers whose downtown businesses were across the street from each other.

Both families attended the same synagogue, B’nai Israel Congregation, and the same high school, New Hanover on Market St. Jerome, whom Harriet called Jerry and colleagues called Jack, graduated in 1947. She finished in 1949. Both were high-achieving, honor-roll students active in scholastic and religious societies.

College honed their talents as scholars and led them to become teachers. Jerome, then 17, chose Duke University, graduating at 19 with a pre-med degree. He entered graduate school at East Carolina College in Greenville, N.C. His 1951 class of 16 men and two women each earned a master’s in education and were offered teaching jobs in North Carolina. Jerome returned home to teach biology.

Harriet chose Woman’s College, developing a deep love for her school. The connection was so strong she kept her 1952-53 ID card and student event admission ticket in her wallet for the next 73 years. In May 1953, she graduated with a degree in history and was recruited by Virginia’s Arlington Public School System to teach history and English that fall. She joined Stratford Junior High School’s faculty in Arlington. In 1954, Jerome became a science teacher at the same school.

Harriet and Jerome fell in love while she was at Woman’s College and were married on Dec. 26, 1955. They began married life in a one-bedroom apartment near Stratford and saved to buy their only home. On Jan. 7, 1959, their son, Alan Michael, was born, and Harriet became a full-time homemaker. In 1961, they moved into their new home in Arlington, minutes from downtown Washington, D.C.

Jerome remained with the Arlington school system for 35 years and retired as an assistant principal at Key Elementary. In addition to teaching at Stratford Junior High, he was also an assistant principal there and at Williamsburg Junior High.

Harriet’s estate attorney, Betsey Wildhack (visual below, at podium), who attended Stratford, remembers Jerome as a brilliant, beloved teacher. Local Northern Virginia alumni Facebook forums describe him as a firm but fair administrator “who balanced the energetic, chaotic environment of middle schoolers with a calm, science-minded discipline.”

Jerome was teaching at Stratford on Feb. 2, 1959, the school’s most historic day. That morning, four African American seventh-graders walked unescorted through nearly 100 helmeted police officers into Stratford, making it the first public school in the Commonwealth of Virginia to desegregate.

Many expected violent confrontations, but none occurred because the school committed to protecting all its students. The faculty and staff had planned and practiced how they would act, and the Washington Post noted how peaceful this milestone was.

The Evensons were well acquainted with living through trying times. They were born in the Great Depression, lived through World War II, and moved to Virginia at the height of the Cold War and the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. They saw the federal government’s growing economic impact in the region and the national surge in groundbreaking technological discoveries. Witnessing this high-tech boom may have prompted Jerome’s decision to invest early in tech titans IBM and Microsoft. His shrewd choices, matched with living modestly and investing wisely, helped build the fortune that the Evenson estate later bequeathed to UNCG.

The couple led a quiet life devoted to their family, their faith, and their love of learning. They filled their home with books on many subjects. They celebrated their son’s achievements and prominently displayed his multi-state table tennis championship trophies. Their lives flourished until Jerome suffered a heart attack in 1982. Alan came home from Old Dominion University to help his mother care for him. Then tragedy struck in 1983.

Alan, 24, was killed in a car crash blocks from their home. To navigate this agonizing loss, the Evensons joined Compassionate Friends and formed a support group for parents like them whose only child was deceased. In 1999, Jerome died and was buried next to their son at B’nai Israel Cemetery in Wilmington.

Harriet lived another 26 years, worrying no one would remember them. To cope, she helped others. She comforted grieving parents, donated money to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, contributed to her local synagogue, and savored UNCG alumni events in Washington, D.C.

In 2005, Harriet began building her legacy with Wildhack’s advice, and today, UNCG is the grateful beneficiary of the Evensons’ remarkable generosity. “She would tell me very clearly over and over that what she and Mr. Evenson wanted to do was to make more teachers,” Wildhack says. “I think she’d be so damn proud of what she’s able to accomplish here. She just wanted to make more teachers, and we’re going to do that.”

The last line in Harriet’s 2025 obituary is, “May the memory of Harriet Shain Evenson be for a blessing.” Today, the names Harriet Shain and Jerome Evenson endure, and the blessings of their legacy will be remembered for generations.

Harriet’s mantra: ‘Make more teachers’

Harriet Evenson ’53 met estate attorney Betsey Wildhack at an estate-planning session in 2000, and the two bonded immediately. Wildhack’s aunt, Barbara French Brown ’53, was at Woman’s College with Evenson, but they did not know each other well. Meeting again 60 years later, Brown and Evenson became fond friends, reminiscing about their time as college students.

“She really was a loving, caring person who wanted to help people around her be better and be happier,” Wildhack says. She describes Evenson as a “petite, feisty woman,” who became angry when her wishes were not followed as instructed. When discussing the estate, Evenson knew exactly how she wanted her wealth distributed. “Their home was all about education and the power of education,” Wildhack recalls.

Evenson’s passion for teaching was irresistible. “She made me want to quit being a lawyer and become a teacher,” Wildhack says. “Maybe I will someday.”

Wildhack once asked Evenson why she became an educator. “She said, ‘When you get the opportunity to see a child’s mind open up, you can see it in their eyes. That’s the best part of being a teacher.’”

Evenson Scholars

Harriet Shain and Jerome Evenson Endowment in Education bestows scholarships to UNCG graduate and undergraduate education students from North Carolina. Since 2006, 77 Spartans have received Evenson scholarships.