First African American and one of the first two women to be a superintendent of schools in Connecticut.

Edythe Gaines was born in Asheville , North Carolina , one of seven children. Her father was an Episcopal priest and her mother a high school teacher of English and Latin. Gaines earned a B.A. from Hunter CoIlege of City University of New York, an M. A. from New York University , and an Ed.D. "with distinction" from Harvard University . She has two sons and five grandchildren; her husband Albert, an electronic engineer, died in 1995.

Edythe began her teaching career in the New York public schools and was named principal of Joan of Arc, an experimental junior high school, in 1955. In 1960 she was named district superintendent of schools and in 1965 executive director of educational planning and support. In New York , Dr. Gaines earned a reputation as an innovative leader of systemwide educational change which led to her hiring as Hartford 's first African American superintendent of schools in 1975. Though her tenure was short-lived, partly as a result of political turmoil in the city, Edythe remained in Hartford where she has continued to play a leadership role in education and community service.

From 1979 to 1991 Dr. Gaines served as a commissioner for the State Department of Public Utility Control. In 1992 Gaines was named to the Board of Governors of Higher Education and in 1995 was named to a four-year term as a member of the Connecticut State Board of Education. She has also served as chair of the Commission on Ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut and as chair and chief executive officer of St. Monica's Development Corporation. Gaines is credited with spearheading St. Monica's Second Century Project, a multi-million dollar effort to build housing for the elderly and a Community Life Center , and has held leadership positions on the boards of numerous other non-profit cultural and educational organizations.

Dr. Gaines is listed in Who's Who in the East, Who's Who of American Women, and Who's Who Among Black Americans. She was the first woman to be elected chair of an Alumni Association at Harvard University and has been named to the Hall of Fame at Hunter College .