Evelyn Edmund was born in New York City in 1934, the child of Guyanese immigrants. Growing up in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, she excelled in school and was active in a number of academic and youth organizations. Edmund and her husband moved as newlyweds from East New York - which was quickly deteriorating due to crime - to the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn in June of 1961. Together, they raised three children and remained active in both their children's education, as well as neighborhood affairs. A health care administrator, she was employed for a time at Long Island College Hospital and subsequently worked as office manager in a private psychiatric practice.