Martha Lavell while at Mills College, 1926

Martha Lavell was born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1909. She received her B.A. in psychology from the University of Minnesota in 1930, and her M.S.W. from Smith College School for Social Work in 1931. She went on to earn an additional graduate degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota in 1943, and studied research methods at the University of Pennsylvania from 1956 to 1957. Lavell held an administrative position at the American Psychiatric Association from 1947 to 53 and while there was Editorial Assistant of American Journal of Psychiatry. She was the Chief Project Planner for the Philadelphia Antipoverty Action Committee in 1965, and served as Assistant Director of the Philadelphia Schools Study, under contract with the U.S. Civil Rights Commission in 1966. Martha Lavell died on January 3rd, 2008.