Euphemia Haynes, Her Math, and Her Fight for Equality

Gabrielle Birchak/ September 10, 2024/ Modern History

A bril­liant math­e­mati­cian once wrote, “For a per­son of intel­li­gence is well equipped to solve the prob­lems of life… we must have some defined aim in life and be able to fill com­pe­tent­ly that posi­tion in which we may find our­selves… let each defeat be a source of a new endeav­or and each vic­to­ry the strength­en­ing of our spir­it of grat­i­tude and char­i­ty towards the unsuc­cess­ful.”[1] This bril­liant indi­vid­ual was Martha Euphemia Lofton Haynes. Oth­er­wise known as Dr. Euphemia Haynes. If you are unfa­mil­iar with her name, Dr. Haynes was the first African Amer­i­can woman to earn a PhD in math­e­mat­ics. She earned her PhD in 1943 and her sto­ry reflects one’s life of deter­mi­na­tion, excel­lence, and a pro­found com­mit­ment to edu­ca­tion and civ­il rights. 

Euphemia was born on Sep­tem­ber 11, 1890, in Wash­ing­ton, D.C., a city that would play a sig­nif­i­cant role in her life and career. She was born into a fam­i­ly that val­ued edu­ca­tion and civic engage­ment. Her moth­er, Anne Lavinia Day Lofton, taught kinder­garten in the pub­lic schools. She was also high­ly active in her catholic church, where she played the organ and direct­ed the children’s choir. Haynes’s father, William Lofton, was born in Arkansas and moved to Wash­ing­ton, DC, before 1870. He was a promi­nent den­tist and strong­ly advo­cat­ed for the African Amer­i­can com­mu­ni­ty. He was a mem­ber of the Wash­ing­ton “Black 400,” a group of Black aris­to­crats. At age five, her par­ents sep­a­rat­ed, and by 1900, the divorce was final. Cus­tody was giv­en to Euphemi­a’s moth­er, and her father had week­ly vis­i­ta­tion rights.[2]

Grow­ing up in a racial­ly seg­re­gat­ed soci­ety, Euphemia faced the chal­lenges that many African Amer­i­cans encoun­tered at the turn of the twen­ti­eth cen­tu­ry. How­ev­er, the Lofton family’s empha­sis on edu­ca­tion gave her the foun­da­tion to over­come these obsta­cles. She attend­ed M Street High School, lat­er known as Dun­bar High School, one of the first pub­lic high schools for African Amer­i­can stu­dents in the Unit­ed States. Dun­bar High School was renowned for its rig­or­ous aca­d­e­m­ic cur­ricu­lum and the excep­tion­al achieve­ments of its grad­u­ates, many of whom went on to have dis­tin­guished careers in var­i­ous fields.

At M Street High School, Euphemia’s love for math­e­mat­ics began to take hold. The school’s cur­ricu­lum allowed her to study advanced math­e­mat­ics, and she excelled in her stud­ies. Her teach­ers, many of whom held advanced degrees, were role mod­els who demon­strat­ed that African Amer­i­cans could achieve aca­d­e­m­ic excel­lence despite soci­etal bar­ri­ers. This ear­ly aca­d­e­m­ic suc­cess began a life­long jour­ney of learn­ing, teach­ing, and break­ing down barriers.

Euphemia was the school’s vale­dic­to­ri­an. She gave a bril­liant, pow­er­ful, and inspir­ing speech, which was quot­ed at the begin­ning of this blog. It was the per­fect rep­re­sen­ta­tion of her life.

After grad­u­at­ing high school, Euphemia con­tin­ued her aca­d­e­m­ic jour­ney at Smith Col­lege, one of the pres­ti­gious Sev­en Sis­ters col­leges. In 1914, she earned a Bach­e­lor of Arts degree in Math­e­mat­ics, a remark­able achieve­ment at a time when very few women, par­tic­u­lar­ly African Amer­i­can women, were pur­su­ing high­er edu­ca­tion in mathematics.

Euphemia’s aca­d­e­m­ic jour­ney didn’t stop there. In 1930, she earned a Mas­ter of Arts degree in Edu­ca­tion from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Chica­go, one of the top uni­ver­si­ties in the coun­try. This degree was a tes­ta­ment to her ded­i­ca­tion to math­e­mat­ics and edu­ca­tion, which she would inter­twine through­out her career.

How­ev­er, Euphemia’s most sig­nif­i­cant aca­d­e­m­ic achieve­ment came in 1943, when she became the first African Amer­i­can woman to earn a Ph.D. in Math­e­mat­ics. She achieved this mile­stone at The Catholic Uni­ver­si­ty of Amer­i­ca in Wash­ing­ton, D.C. Her dis­ser­ta­tion, titled The Deter­mi­na­tion of Sets of Inde­pen­dent Con­di­tions Char­ac­ter­iz­ing Cer­tain Spe­cial Cas­es of Sym­met­ric Cor­re­spon­dences, was a rig­or­ous and high­ly spe­cial­ized work in mathematics.

The dis­ser­ta­tion delves into the math­e­mat­i­cal study of sym­met­ric cor­re­spon­dences, a type of rela­tion­ship between ele­ments in dif­fer­ent sets that main­tains a two-way, bal­anced connection. 

Her dis­ser­ta­tion exam­ined two dif­fer­ent meth­ods for rep­re­sent­ing shapes or curves on a flat sur­face. She stud­ied these meth­ods to under­stand how they dif­fered and what made each one unique. She com­pared two ways to draw and describe cer­tain types of curves in geom­e­try, explor­ing their char­ac­ter­is­tics to see how they behaved differently.

The Key Aspects of her Dis­ser­ta­tion includ­ed the following:

1. Focus on Sym­met­ric Correspondences: 
   • Sym­met­ric cor­re­spon­dences are math­e­mat­i­cal rela­tion­ships where if an ele­ment from one set is relat­ed to an ele­ment in anoth­er set, the reverse rela­tion­ship also holds. This is a fun­da­men­tal con­cept in set the­o­ry and algebra.
2. Deter­mi­na­tion of Inde­pen­dent Conditions: 
   • Euphemia aimed to iden­ti­fy the min­i­mum set of con­di­tions nec­es­sary to char­ac­ter­ize spe­cif­ic cas­es of these sym­met­ric cor­re­spon­dences. “Inde­pen­dent con­di­tions” refers to rules or cri­te­ria that do not over­lap or depend on each oth­er but are essen­tial for defin­ing the relationship.
3. Spe­cial Cases: 
   • Her dis­ser­ta­tion zeroes in on par­tic­u­lar instances or “spe­cial cas­es” of sym­met­ric cor­re­spon­dences, like­ly involv­ing more com­plex or con­strained sce­nar­ios. These cas­es might have unique prop­er­ties or struc­tures that require a detailed and nuanced math­e­mat­i­cal approach.
4. Math­e­mat­i­cal Techniques: 
   • Euphemia like­ly employed advanced math­e­mat­i­cal tools such as set the­o­ry, com­bi­na­to­r­i­al analy­sis, and pos­si­bly lin­ear alge­bra to explore and define these con­di­tions. Her work would have involved rig­or­ous proofs and log­i­cal rea­son­ing to estab­lish the nec­es­sary criteria.
5. Geo­met­ric Representations: 
   • The dis­ser­ta­tion also exam­ined how these sym­met­ric cor­re­spon­dences could be rep­re­sent­ed geo­met­ri­cal­ly, par­tic­u­lar­ly in the con­text of para­met­ric ratio­nal plane curves. This sug­gests that Euphemia explored the visu­al or spa­tial inter­pre­ta­tion of these math­e­mat­i­cal rela­tion­ships and com­pared dif­fer­ent meth­ods of representation.

If you are inter­est­ed in read­ing her dis­ser­ta­tion, you can find it in many uni­ver­si­ty libraries, includ­ing archives at the Catholic Uni­ver­si­ty of Amer­i­ca. You can also find it through the Library of Con­gress. Final­ly, if you are inter­est­ed in learn­ing more about her dis­ser­ta­tion, I high­ly rec­om­mend that you vis­it the math blog of Dr. David Joyn­er titled Yet Anoth­er Math­blog at www.YetAnotherMathBlog.com. It is such a great math blog with per­mu­ta­tion puz­zles, posts on math and chess, and MY favorite: Math Prob­lems of the Week! You can find remarks on Euphemi­a’s the­sis, here: https://yetanothermathblog.com/2024/05/04/remarks-on-the-1943-phd-thesis-of-e-haynes/

If you are inter­est­ed in read­ing the LaTeX ver­sion of her the­sis, email Dr. Joyn­er to request a copy. 

Final­ly, in an email exchange with me, Dr. Joyn­er shared some excit­ing news. He is part of a team that includes Dr. John Sti­gall and is head­ed up by Dr. Edray Goins, who is work­ing on a detailed study of her work. I cer­tain­ly don’t do it jus­tice in my blog or pod­cast, so I am real­ly look­ing for­ward to read­ing that! 

Significance of the Work

Haynes’ dis­ser­ta­tion rep­re­sents a sig­nif­i­cant con­tri­bu­tion to the field of math­e­mat­ics, par­tic­u­lar­ly in under­stand­ing how com­plex rela­tion­ships can be char­ac­ter­ized and defined in a pre­cise, log­i­cal man­ner. Her work laid the ground­work for fur­ther explo­ration of sym­met­ric rela­tion­ships in math­e­mat­ics, which have appli­ca­tions in areas such as graph the­o­ry, alge­bra­ic geom­e­try, and even in fields like physics and com­put­er science.

Though high­ly spe­cial­ized, this dis­ser­ta­tion show­cas­es Haynes’ deep math­e­mat­i­cal exper­tise and her abil­i­ty to tack­le com­plex prob­lems with pre­ci­sion and creativity.

Euphemia’s dis­ser­ta­tion was a per­son­al vic­to­ry for her and a ground­break­ing moment for African Amer­i­can women in math­e­mat­ics. At a time when the aca­d­e­m­ic and pro­fes­sion­al worlds were closed to African Amer­i­cans and women, she broke through bar­ri­ers and set a prece­dent for future generations.

Once she received her Ph.D., Euphemia embarked on a career that would have a last­ing impact on edu­ca­tion in Wash­ing­ton, D.C., and beyond. She ded­i­cat­ed her life to teach­ing and improv­ing the edu­ca­tion­al oppor­tu­ni­ties for African Amer­i­can stu­dents, par­tic­u­lar­ly in the D.C. pub­lic school system.

She began her teach­ing career at her alma mater, Dun­bar High School, where she taught math­e­mat­ics. Over the years, she held var­i­ous teach­ing and admin­is­tra­tive posi­tions in the D.C. pub­lic schools, includ­ing serv­ing as a math­e­mat­ics pro­fes­sor at Min­er Teach­ers Col­lege, which lat­er became part of the Uni­ver­si­ty of the Dis­trict of Columbia.

In addi­tion to her work in the class­room, Euphemia was deeply involved in edu­ca­tion­al admin­is­tra­tion and reform. She was appoint­ed to the D.C. Board of Edu­ca­tion in 1960 and was pres­i­dent from 1966 to 1967. She was the first African Amer­i­can woman to hold this posi­tion. And, with­out a doubt, she rep­re­sent­ed. She was a vocal advo­cate for deseg­re­ga­tion and equal edu­ca­tion­al oppor­tu­ni­ties for all stu­dents dur­ing her tenure.

Euphemia believed that edu­ca­tion was a fun­da­men­tal right and that qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion should be acces­si­ble to every­one, regard­less of race or socioe­co­nom­ic sta­tus. Her work on the Board of Edu­ca­tion was instru­men­tal in the fight against seg­re­ga­tion. Her efforts as a teacher played a vital role in imple­ment­ing the 1954 Supreme Court deci­sion in Brown v. Board of Edu­ca­tion and the deseg­re­ga­tion of schools. After the deseg­re­ga­tion, a cur­ricu­lum was imple­ment­ed in 1959 for stu­dents at all lev­els. Stu­dents were required to take IQ tests or eval­u­a­tions. Upon which prin­ci­pals and teach­ers would des­ig­nate stu­dents to hon­ors or reg­u­lar col­lege prepara­to­ry class­es. In oth­er words, it was not up to the stu­dents to deter­mine what they could study; instead, it was the deci­sion of the teach­ers and prin­ci­pals to deter­mine whether the stu­dents received edu­ca­tion for aca­d­e­mics or edu­ca­tion for blue-col­lar work.

How­ev­er, in Novem­ber 1963, Euphemia spoke out against this process. She stat­ed, “Man-made pre­dic­tions deter­mine the future of a child” and erad­i­cate “free­dom of choice.” She not­ed that the track­ing sys­tem opposed the Amer­i­can ide­al and that we are a free soci­ety that deserves the poten­tial and dig­ni­ty of self-direc­tion. Final­ly, she stat­ed that those who were placed in the low­er tracks of edu­ca­tion were giv­en a “feel­ing of inad­e­qua­cy.” A year lat­er, in 1964, she spoke before the school board again, stat­ing that the track­ing sys­tem “attempts in apartheid-like fash­ion to sep­a­rate the under­priv­i­leged.”[3]

In the sum­mer of 1966, Haynes was elect­ed the pres­i­dent of the school board, upon which the board ordered the dis­man­tling of the track sys­tem to imple­ment new class­room methods.

Euphemia’s con­tri­bu­tions to math­e­mat­ics and edu­ca­tion were pro­found. Still, her impact extend­ed beyond the class­room and the school board. She worked tire­less­ly for civ­il rights and social jus­tice, ensur­ing that the ben­e­fits of edu­ca­tion were avail­able to all.

In addi­tion to her work in edu­ca­tion, Euphemia par­tic­i­pat­ed in numer­ous civic and com­mu­ni­ty orga­ni­za­tions. She was a mem­ber of the Amer­i­can Asso­ci­a­tion of Uni­ver­si­ty Women, the Catholic Inter­ra­cial Coun­cil of Wash­ing­ton, and the Nation­al Asso­ci­a­tion for the Advance­ment of Col­ored Peo­ple (NAACP). She pro­mot­ed edu­ca­tion­al equi­ty, civ­il rights, and social jus­tice through these organizations.

Euphemia also con­tributed to the broad­er aca­d­e­m­ic com­mu­ni­ty through her involve­ment in pro­fes­sion­al orga­ni­za­tions such as the Math­e­mat­i­cal Asso­ci­a­tion of Amer­i­ca (MAA). She advo­cat­ed for increas­ing the rep­re­sen­ta­tion of African Amer­i­cans and women in math­e­mat­ics. She worked to cre­ate oppor­tu­ni­ties for under­rep­re­sent­ed groups in math­e­mat­ics and science.

Papal Medal — Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice from the Catholic Church

Many rec­og­nized her ded­i­ca­tion to edu­ca­tion and social jus­tice, and she received numer­ous awards and hon­ors through­out her career. Two rec­og­niz­able ones among her many pres­ti­gious awards include an hon­orary doc­tor­ate from Howard Uni­ver­si­ty and the Papal Medal from Pope John XVIII. This Papal Medal wasn’t just an acknowl­edg­ment of her con­tri­bu­tions to math­e­mat­ics. It was also an acknowl­edg­ment of her con­tri­bu­tions to the Catholic Church and her ongo­ing com­mit­ment to social justice.

Dr. Euphemia Lofton Haynes passed away on July 25, 1980, leav­ing a lega­cy of excel­lence in edu­ca­tion, math­e­mat­ics, and civ­il rights. Her life and work have inspired count­less indi­vid­u­als, par­tic­u­lar­ly African Amer­i­can women, to pur­sue careers in math­e­mat­ics and education.

Her impact is still felt today, as her sto­ry is a pow­er­ful reminder of the impor­tance of per­se­ver­ance, edu­ca­tion, and advo­ca­cy. In 1999, the Math­e­mat­i­cal Asso­ci­a­tion of Amer­i­ca estab­lished the Euphemia Lofton Haynes Award to hon­or her lega­cy and rec­og­nize indi­vid­u­als who have sig­nif­i­cant­ly con­tributed to advanc­ing under­rep­re­sent­ed groups in mathematics.

Euphemi­a’s work on behalf of edu­ca­tion­al equi­ty con­tin­ues to res­onate, par­tic­u­lar­ly in the ongo­ing strug­gles for racial and gen­der equal­i­ty in edu­ca­tion. Her life is a tes­ta­ment to the pow­er of edu­ca­tion as a tool for social change, and her lega­cy con­tin­ues to inspire new gen­er­a­tions of math­e­mati­cians, edu­ca­tors, and activists.

Euphemi­a’s life was a pow­er­ful tes­ta­ment to the strength of intel­lect, deter­mi­na­tion, and a pro­found com­mit­ment to jus­tice. As a pio­neer­ing math­e­mati­cian and edu­ca­tor, she broke bar­ri­ers and shat­tered ceil­ings, becom­ing the first African Amer­i­can woman to earn a Ph.D. in math­e­mat­ics. Yet, her con­tri­bu­tions extend­ed far beyond her schol­ar­ly achieve­ments. Through her relent­less advo­ca­cy for edu­ca­tion­al equi­ty and her piv­otal role in deseg­re­gat­ing Wash­ing­ton, D.C.’s pub­lic schools, Haynes worked tire­less­ly to ensure that every child, regard­less of race, had the oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn and thrive. Her lega­cy is not just one of aca­d­e­m­ic excel­lence but of a life ded­i­cat­ed to lift­ing oth­ers, fight­ing for fair­ness, and trans­form­ing the edu­ca­tion­al land­scape for future gen­er­a­tions. Euphemia Haynes stands as a bea­con of courage and a cham­pi­on of equal­i­ty, inspir­ing all who fol­low in her footsteps.

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[1] Haynes-Lofton Fam­i­ly Papers, The Amer­i­can Catholic His­to­ry Research Cen­ter and Uni­ver­si­ty Archives, The Catholic Uni­ver­si­ty of Amer­i­ca, Wash­ing­ton, DC, https://findingaids.lib.catholic.edu/repositories/2/resources/99

[2] Kel­ly, Susan, Car­ly Shin­ners, and Kather­ine Zoroufy. “Euphemia Lofton Haynes: Bring­ing Edu­ca­tion Clos­er to the ‘Goal of Per­fec­tion.’” Notices of the Amer­i­can Math­e­mat­i­cal Soci­ety 64 (March 2, 2017). https://doi.org/10.1090/noti1579.

[3] Kel­ly, Susan, Car­ly Shin­ners, and Kather­ine Zoroufy. “Euphemia Lofton Haynes: Bring­ing Edu­ca­tion Clos­er to the ‘Goal of Per­fec­tion.’” Notices of the Amer­i­can Math­e­mat­i­cal Soci­ety 64 (March 2, 2017). https://doi.org/10.1090/noti1579.