Evaleen Stein papers

Evaleen Stein was born in 1863 to John A. Stein and Virginia Tomlinson Stein in Lafayette, Indiana.  Her brother was Orth Stein.  The Stein family was well respected within the greater Lafayette community due to John Stein’s law practice, involvement in local and state politics, his role in the establishment of Purdue University, and his involvement with the Board of Trustees once the university was established.  Virginia Stein was also well respected due to her position at the Lafayette library after the passing of her husband.  Both Orth and Evaleen were known for their writing, although Orth’s writing was primarily journalistic in nature. Ms. Stein’s writing career got its start with the publishing of several of her poems in Indianapolis newspapers.  As she gained more attention for her work from better known local authors such as James Whitcomb Riley and George Ade, she was eventually able to begin publishing her poems in collected volumes.  Later, Stein transitioned to writing and illustrating children’s stories.  Her status and standing within the local community and among other Indiana authors was celebrated at a program organized in her honor at Purdue University: An Authors’ Reading.  Notable authors such as George Ade, James Whitcomb Riley, Charles Major, and Meredith Nicholson read from their works and raised $1000 on Stein’s behalf so that she might travel to Europe.  Stein passed away at the age of sixty in 1923.