A new local history display is up and coming on the second floor of the Crawfordsville District Public Library. Many generations have met the love of their life in Crawfordsville, and this love story is not unlike those. This display features a love story that developed between a Crawfordsville and Frankfort couple, as well as some World War II memorabilia.
Daniel Fraley Evans graduated from Crawfordsville High School in 1940 and is a Wabash College graduate as well. He met the love of his life, Julia “Judy” Delo Sloan, at the Central Indiana High School Oratorical Contest in 1939. They began frequent correspondence in June of 1941, and from 1941 to 1944, Dan and Judy sent many letters back and forth between Crawfordsville and Frankfort as their love blossomed. That carried on all the way through Dan’s deployment, the end of World War II, and their marriage.
Lieutenant Daniel Fraley Evans follows in the military footsteps of his uncle, Sergeant Floyd Fraley, who was featured in a World War I display earlier this year. Lieutenant Evans was able to gain V-12 status with the United States Navy through the V-7 program, which was originally announced by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940. His letters of endorsement from Wabash are currently part of the display.
The display includes a shadow box with a Type 99 Arisaka rifle. This was the standard infantry rifle for the Japanese Army from 1939 until the end of World War II. The sword featured in the shadow box is a Shin Gunto, which is the Army Officer’s sword.
When World War II ended in 1945, Lieutenant Evans was on the ship Levy in the Pacific Ocean when the Japanese surrendered. When he returned to the United States, Judy and he got married in October of 1945. They ended up having multiple children. Dan went on to be a businessman with L.S. Ayers and Company, as well as providing board leadership with Methodist Hospital.
The library’s local history display, available mid-October 2026 through the beginning of January 2027, shares photographs, handwritten letters, and memorabilia from Daniel Fraley Evans. Visit the second floor to explore this piece of local history anytime during our open hours, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Ashlyn Williams is a library assistant in the Adult Services Department at the Crawfordsville District Public Library.
