The Biography of Martha Euphemia Lofton Haynes

8th Grade Sr. Sabeen Math

Martha Euphemia Lofton Haynes was born on September 11, 1890 to William S. Lofton. She was the oldest out of her siblings and the only girl. Martha was an American mathematician and educator. She is now commonly known as the first African-American woman to gain a PhD in mathematics, from the Catholic University of America.

She had a great academic career, graduating as the valedictorian of M Street High School in 1907 and then graduated from Washington D.C. Miner Normal School with excellence in 1909. She then went on to earn an undergraduate mathematics major and psychology minor from Smith College in 1914. In 1930, she gained a masters degree in education from the University of Chicago.

And In 1943 she received her PhD from The Catholic University of America with a dissertation, titled “The Determination of Sets of Independent Conditions Characterizing Certain Special Cases of Symmetric Correspondences”. Dr.Hayes then went on to contribute greatly to the educational system of the District of Columbia, teaching in public schools all throughout Washington D.C for 47 years. She taught first grade at Garrison and Garfield Schools, mathematics at Armstrong High School and mathematics at Dunbar High School then serving as chair of the Math Department. Later on, in 1966, she became the first woman to chair the DC Board of Education.

In 1959 Hayes retired from the public school system, but went on to establish the mathematics department at Miners Teacher's College. She also occasionally taught part-time at Howard University and was involved in many community activities.

She served as first vice-president of the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women, the chair of the Advisory Board of Fides Neighborhood House, on the Committee of International Social Welfare, on the Executive Committee of the National Social Welfare Assembly, secretary and member of the Executive Committee of the D.C Health and Welfare Council, on the local and national committees of the United Service Organization, a member of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, Catholic Interracial Council of Washington, the Urban League, NAACP, League of Women Voters, and the American Association of University Women.

Dr. Haynes died of a heart attack on July 25, 1980 at the age of 89 in her hometown, Washington, D.C. She had set up a trust fund to support a professorial chair and student loan fund in the School of Education, giving $700,000 to Catholic University. In 2004, the E.L. Haynes Public Charter School in Washington, DC was named in her honor. Throughout her life Dr.Hayes taught and served her community, leaving a lost lasting impact upon it.