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Haynes, Sarah Oren

 Person

Biographical Information

Sarah D. (Allen) Oren Haynes (1836-1907) came to Purdue in 1875 as the first female faculty member of the university. Her title, which initially was "female teacher of the university," was changed to assistant professor of mathematics until she was appointed as a professor of botany soon after being hired. Among her undertakings, Haynes presented the university with plans for a campus orchard with which to conduct experimental work, assisted in formulating the rules of student conduct, and, in 1876, became the overseer of the first women's literary society at Purdue. Sarah Oren and her teenage daughter, Cata, lived on campus in two rooms of the Boarding Hall (Ladies Hall) until 1878, when Oren resigned from Purdue in order to marry Wesley Haynes. Among her other accomplishments, Sarah Oren also held the position of becoming the first woman state librarian for Indiana in 1873. In addition to being Indiana's first woman state librarian and Purdue's first female faculty member, Oren was also the first faculty member, male or female, to receive a board of trustees citation in appreciation of her work for the university.