Evelyn Harris Hamilton was graduated from Davidson College in 1917. While a student, he was a member of the Eumenean Society. After graduation he attended Union Theological Seminary and the Bible Seminary in New York. He served as a missionary in China, Japan and Taiwan as well as taking interim pastorates in Georgia, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Hamilton wrote the words of the Davidson fight song, "O Davidson." He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree by Davidson College in 1962.