Image (detail) courtesy of Ronald Reagan Library

EVANS, Melvin Herbert, a Delegate from the Virgin Islands; born in Christiansted, St. Croix, V.I., August 7, 1917; attended the public schools; B.S., Howard University, Washington, D.C., 1940; M.D., Howard University College of Medicine, 1944; M.P.H., University of California, Berkeley, Calif., 1967; Virgin Islands Health Commissioner, 1959-1967; private practice of medicine, 1967-1969; appointed Governor of Virgin Islands, and served from 1969 until 1971; first elected Governor of Virgin Islands in 1970 and served from 1971 until 1975; Republican National Committeeman for United States, Virgin Islands, 1976-1980; delegate, Republican National Conventions, 1972 and 1976; elected as a Republican to the Ninety-sixth Congress (January 3, 1979-January 3, 1981); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1980 to the Ninety-seventh Congress; United States ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago, December 1, 1981, until his death; was a resident of Christiansted, St. Croix, V.I., until his death there on November 27, 1984; interment in Christiansted Cemetery.