Evelyn Hawkins Hood

For decades, Evelyn Hawkins Hood influenced generations of Atlanta children as a teacher, activist, scholarship fundraiser and a regional and national officer of note in one of the "Divine Nine" sororities. Hood, 99, died April 6.

"She was so generous," said Ann Broughton, Hood's goddaughter. The two met at West Mitchell Street Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, where Hood taught Sunday school, directed vacation Bible school and served as the director of Christian education. "She became a sorority member because the chapter was working with children and with community service activities, and she wanted to be involved."

For 42 years, she introduced children to books, reading and math in her second-grade classroom at C.W. Hill Elementary School in Atlanta. As a leading officer in the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority she helped raise more than $600,000 in scholarships for deserving high school students.

After joining the sorority in 1950, Hood rose through the ranks of Sigma Gamma Rho to become chapter president, serving in different capacities on the local, regional and national levels. She spent 1974-1980 leading the organization as the 14th International Grand Basileus of Sigma Gamma Rho. She stayed involved until the end of her life, members said. The sorority has 500 chapters across the country and five in metro Atlanta. As Grand Basileus, she generated a stable cash flow for Sigma Gamma Rho and sustainable donations to the NCCAP and the United Negro College Fund.

A service will be held at West Mitchell St. CME Church, 560 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., Atlanta on Friday, April 21, at 11 a.m.

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