Euphemia Lofton-Haynes or Intellectualism doesn't pay well
It has been twice in one week I have referred to Dr. Euphemia Lofton Haynes, first Afro-American woman with a PhD in Mathematics in conversation, not by name, but by accomplishment. Her connection with anything relating to me is that once upon a time she owned my house. She didn't live in it, it was an investment property. She bought it, rented it out, and later sold it, as she did with several other properties in the area. It was just one of many in her portfolio.If the quick biographies of her, very few, if almost none mention where she got the money for living the life of an educator and social activist. She was the only daughter (she had a brother) of a dentist, so she came from some level of comfort. She worked in public schools such as Armstrong and Dunbar, Miner's College, and later the president of the DC Board of Education. Positions, though highly respectable, don't strike me as highly lucrative. According to the biography provided by the university that holds Dr. Lofton-Haynes papers, "the Haynes' family moved solidly into the upper-middle class, owning a substantial number of rental properties throughout the District."
She is rightly known for her educational achievements, but what supported her ability to become the intellectual and activist was not her income as an educator. Right now I'm meditating on what that means.
Labels: history
posted by Mari @ 15.12.09
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