Martha Euphemia Lofton Haynes was born on September 11, 1890, in Washington, D.C. Her father was a black dentist and her mother was active in the Catholic Church which would affect her later in life. Haynes graduated from M St. High School in 1907 and Miner Normal School in 1909. Haynes then went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from Smith College. Soon after she married Harold Appo Haynes. In 1930, she received a master’s degree in education from the University of Chicago. Later that year, she founded the math department at Miner Teachers Collage which focused on training African-American teachers. She then became a teacher there. Haynes was the head of the math department for almost 30 years. In 1943, she earned a Ph.D.