Morris R. Evenson was born in Wisconsin in 1920, but spent his childhood school years in St. Paul, Minnesota. He dropped out of school in the ninth grade. Later he wrote, "It took both his hands to count the unions he had been a member of--Teamos, Seamen, Electrical (Workers) in a radio factory, a busboy in the Culinary Workers, a switchman in the Railroad Brotherhood, a coffin maker in the Carpenters Union, and a plastic molder in the Machinists..." in addition to the Painters Union (Evenson). He claimed that it was his life as a merchant seaman in the National Maritime Union (NMU) which continued his education, teaching him about unions and different political points of view. It was as a merchant seaman in the NMU that he served his country during World War II. By 1948, Evenson had identified himself with the "left-wingers" in the Union, and became a victim of the purge of communists and their sympathizers by NMU President Joseph Curran. He was in New Orleans when he was expelled from the NMU. Evenson moved to San Francisco in 1948 and, in 1952, joined the Painters Union Local 1158.

Evenson was elected Business Representative of Painters Union Local 1158 in 1961. He also became a member of a rank-and-file caucus working to amalgamate the two separate locals in San Francisco- Local 1158 and Local 19. This was accomplished in 1963, forming Painters Local Union 4- the largest Painters Local in the country. Evenson was elected its first Business Representative. He worked closely with Dow Wilson, who served as a Business Representative in Local 19. Wilson was elected the first Recording Secretary of Local 4.

When Wilson was assassinated in 1966, Evenson stepped in to continue Wilson's work as Local 4 Recording Secretary. He was also elected a trustee of the Bay Area Painters Trust Funds and served for 10 years as its chairman.

When he retired, Evenson focused his attention on the Bay Area Painters Trust Funds and also published a newsletter called The Rank and File Voice. He died in 1988.

Dow Wilson's life had many parallels with Evenson's. He was born in 1926 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Like Evenson, his formal education ended in the ninth grade. In 1942, at age 16, he also went to sea as a member of the National Maritime Union. Like Evenson, he was charged by the NMU leadership of being a communist; however, he successfully fought the charges while acting as his own attorney. Wilson left the NMU in the early 1950s, became a house painter and a member of Painters Union Local 19 in San Francisco. Wilson and Evenson had known about each other in the NMU, but did not meet until they became union brothers in the San Francisco Painters locals. Wilson was elected a business representative in Local 19 and was also in the caucus working for the amalgamation of the two painters locals. When the amalgamated local was chartered, Wilson was elected the first Local 4 Recording Secretary- the Local's most important officer.

Dow Wilson was assassinated three years later in 1966. A month later, Lloyd Green, an official of the Painters Union Local 127 in the East Bay, was also killed. A significant motive for these assassinations was the fight waged by Wilson and his supporters against the misuse and embezzlement of the Painters Union Trust Funds. Evenson was elected Recording Secretary to replace Wilson during the period of turmoil and fear following the deaths of Wilson and Green.