Euphemia Lofton Haynes: Bringing Education Closer to the “Goal of Perfection”
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COMMUNICATION Euphemia Lofton Haynes: Bringing Education Closer to the “Goal of Perfection” Susan E. Kelly, Carly Shinners, Katherine Zoroufy Martha Euphemia Lof- to 1968, serving as president from June 1966 through July ton Haynes was the 1967. She played a leadership role in ending the tracking first African American system, which she argued discriminated against African woman to receive a American students by assigning them to education tracks PhD in mathematics. that did not prepare them for college. This fight culmi- She grew up in Wash- nated in the 1967 Hobson v. Hansen court case, in which ington, DC, earned a the judge ruled that tracking was discriminatory towards bachelor’s degree in poor and minority students. mathematics from Smith College in 1914, Setting the Stage a master’s in educa- Seldom does the story of one’s life begin at birth. In doc- tion from University umenting the life and accomplishments of Haynes, it is of Chicago in 1930, important to also look at some of the history that sets the and a doctorate in stage for her life. Haynes was born on September 11, 1890, mathematics from The in Washington, DC [2], just twenty-five years after the end Catholic University of the United States Civil War. This location, the time pe- of America in 1943. riod, and her race played major roles in shaping her life. Haynes spent over Washington, DC, by its very nature has always been forty-five years teach- unique. This is illustrated in its history related to race. Figure 1: Haynes was named ing in Washington, DC, The Declaration of Independence calls it “self-evident” Lady of the Year by the DC from elementary and that “all men are created equal,” yet slavery was allowed “Oldest Inhabitants” in 1967. secondary level to uni- to continue. George Washington was a slave owner. The versity level. She was active in many community service White House and Capitol Building were built by slaves. organizations where she served in leadership roles and Philip Reid, a slave, worked on the Statue of Freedom, received numerous honors, including being named a which sits atop the Capital dome. Slaves, some likely Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and being awarded a Papal Medal. She was a owned by Martha Washington, excavated the sandstone member of the Washington, DC, school board from 1960 used to build the Smithsonian Castle on the National Mall. In 1800 one fourth of DC’s population was African Ameri- Susan Kelly is professor of mathematics at the University of can, and most of them were slaves. By 1830 the majority Wisconsin La Crosse. Her e-mail address is [email protected]. of African Americans in the capital were free. While free Carly Shinners and Katherine Zoroufy began their work on this African Americans had access to education in Washington, project as an undergraduate research project directed by Kelly. DC, in neighboring states such as Virginia such education The phrase “Goal of Perfection” is from Haynes’s “Mathematics– was against the law. Also at this time, public auctions of Symbolic Logic” 1945 address [3]. slaves continued in the nation’s capital. In April 1862, For permission to reprint this article, please contact: reprint- nine months prior to the general Emancipation Procla- [email protected]. mation, President Lincoln signed the DC Compensation DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1090/noti1579 Emancipation Act, which began the process of freeing OCTOBER 2017 NOTICES OF THE AMS 995 COMMUNICATION slaves in DC while compensating their owners for their with the skills to both read and write. Haynes’s father was deemed value [2]. listed as being mixed race according to the 1910 census [5]. Haynes’s mother, (Anne) Lavinia Day Lofton, was a By the time Haynes was born, slavery had been abol- native of Washington, DC, and taught kindergarten in the ished; however, opportunities and rights of black Amer- public schools. She was active in her Catholic church as icans were not equal to those of whites. In the United an organist, children’s choir director, and Sunday school States in 1890, at the time of Haynes’s birth, 45 percent teacher [3]. Haynes’s mother’s side of the family can be of blacks fourteen years old or above were illiterate, while traced back to Haynes’s great-great-grandmother, Agnes only 6 percent of whites of that age were [2]. Haynes’s par- ents could read and write, but some of her grandparents Day, who was born in Maryland about 1790. In the 1850s could not [5]. Schools in DC were segregated along with and 1860s, the Day family members were listed as “Free many other aspects of society. Haynes lived through the Inhabitants” of Washington, DC, (see Figure 2). Census Civil Rights years, including the 1954 Brown v. Board of data from 1850–1870 list no adult males living in the Education decision, which ruled that segregation of public household. Adult females were listed with occupations of schools was illegal. Her background and location set the domestic servant, housekeeper, and washing [5]. stage for her fight for equal education opportunities in the nation’s capital. Early Life and Family Martha Euphemia Lofton Haynes preferred being called Euphemia rather than Martha. Her father, William Lofton, was a member of the Washington “black 400,” a small group of fewer than one hundred families in Washington, DC, who were considered aristocrats of color, a distinction often based on family background, occupation, color, and generations removed from slavery [2]. Because Haynes’s father was a member of this elite group and her mother was a school teacher, Haynes had opportunities that most African Americans in DC would not have at this time. However, her family situation began to generate turmoil early in her life. Haynes’s family began to break up during her early youth. Her brother, Joseph, was born in 1893, but by 1895 her parents had separated. In a letter William sent to Lavinia in December of 1895, William stated that he had not seen their children except by accident since September of that year and accused his wife of intentionally keeping the children from him. He told her that he had prepared a comfortable home for her and their children Figure 2: Euphemia’s great-great-grandmother, and also asked if the Agnes Day, line 25; great-grandmother Mary; and children were in need grandmother Agnes are listed as Free Inhabitants of of shoes. In 1900 the Washington DC in the 1850 census. divorce was finalized, and custody was given Haynes’s father, William S. Lofton, was born in the to Haynes’s mother, 1860s in Batesville, Arkansas, and moved with his parents while Haynes’s father to Washington, DC, prior to the 1870 census [5]. William was given weekly vis- was a graduate of Howard University and became a suc- itation rights. The cessful dentist and a member of the board of directors relationship between of the Capital Savings Bank. He was a Catholic lay leader Haynes and her fa- on the national level who pressed the Church to establish ther appeared to be schools for African American children and worked to help strained throughout create Catholic organizations for African Americans in the the rest of William’s 1890s, when racial prejudices were increasing [2], [3]. In life, based on letters the 1870 census, William’s father, also named William, was William wrote to his listed as a laborer born in Kentucky who could not read or daughter. William in- cluded both of his write. William’s mother, Martha, was a housekeeper who Figure 3: Euphemia Lofton children in his final was born in Maryland or Missouri and who could not write. before marrying Harold Haynes will [3]. By the 1900 census, Martha was listed as a housekeeper in 1917. 996 NOTICES OF THE AMS VOLUME 64, NUMBER 9 COMMUNICATION By the time of the 1900 census, nine-year-old Haynes white students. Many of the graduates of M Street High was living with her family in the home of her uncle and School went on to college or university and became black aunt, Benjamin and Anna Swann. Benjamin was a butler leaders in DC and beyond [2]. In Haynes’ valedictorian and Anna, Lavinia’s sister, was a dressmaker. Other adults speech, her words reflect her actions throughout her life: in the home were Haynes’s mother, Lavinia Lofton, who “For a person of intelligence is well equipped to solve the worked as a school teacher; Haynes’s grandmother, Agnes problems of life… We must have some defined aim in life Day; and Haynes’s great-grandmother, Grace Delany. and be able to fill competently that position in which we Children in the home were Haynes; her seven-year-old may find ourselves… Let each defeat be a source of a new brother, Joseph; and her two-year-old cousin, Daniel endeavor and each victory the strengthening of our spirit Swann [5]. Archive records indicate family struggles at of gratitude and charity towards the unsuccessful” [3]. As times, but also showed a family that stayed close. Later will be addressed later, lack of funding directed to black in life Haynes traveled to Chicago frequently when her schools in DC allowed the schools’ quality to greatly di- brother was dying, and in a 1972 interview Haynes spoke minish, and Haynes would become a voice challenging the of her mother, saying, “My mother was so successful as a unequal education offered in public schools based on race. mother because she believed in me” [4]. Haynes next attended Miner Normal School and grad- Euphemia Lofton married Harold Haynes in 1917.