Edgar Allan Poe research
Outside of her work in journalism and music education, May Garrettson Evans conducted valuable research on the work and legacy of Edgar Allan Poe. Before her fellow members of the Woman's Literary Club of Baltimore in the 1890s, Evans shared her studies of Poe's death and first grave, pointing out discrepancies between the burial place and the original marker. She would resume her work on this topic decades later, publishing a detailed account in the Baltimore Sun in 1920. The following year, the marker was moved to the location Evans had argued was the proper spot.
Evans became one of the founding members of the Edgar Allan Poe Society in 1924 and would go on to serve as president from 1935 to 1938. During that time, she helped lead research on the house on Amity Street where Poe had lived, once again correcting the historical record. Evans published her work in the Maryland Historical Magazine and the Poe Society successfully persuaded the city not to demolish the house. The Poe House is now a museum open to the public.
Other scholarship by Evans combined her interest in Poe with her knowledge of musical literature. In her 1939 book Music and Edgar Allan Poe: a Bibliographical Study, Evans discusses how composers such as Debussy, MacDowell, and Rachmaninoff incorporated Poe's texts in their works. The book contains an annotated list of musical settings of Poe's works.
Facts About Mistake In Marking Original Burial Place Of Poe
Article by Evans about her efforts to identify the proper location of Poe's remains.
Manuscript by Edgar Allan Poe Society on the death of May Garrettson Evans
Note by the Edgar Allan Poe Society in memory of Evans. Includes news clipping about the preservation of the Poe House on Amity Street.
Music and Edgar Allan Poe : a bibliographical study
Excerpt of book by Evans about musical settings of Edgar Allan Poe's texts.