Euphemia Lofton Haynes: Bringing Education Closer to the "Goal of Perfection"

Abstract

Martha Euphemia Lofton Haynes was the first African American woman to receive a PhD in mathematics. She grew up in Washington DC, earned a bachelors degree in mathematics from Smith College in 1914, a masters in education from University of Chicago in 1930, and a doctorate in mathematics from the Catholic University of America in 1943. Haynes spent over forty-five years teaching in Washington DC from elementary and secondary level to university level. She was active in many community service organizations where she served in leadership roles and received numerous honors including being named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and being awarded a Papal Medal. She was a member of the Washington DC school board from 1960 - 1968, serving as president from June 1966 through July 1967. She played a leadership role in ending the tracking system, which she argued discriminated against African American students by assigning them to education tracks that did not prepare them for college. This fight culminated in the 1967 Hobson v Hansen court case, in which the judge ruled that tracking was discriminatory towards poor and minority students.