Martha Katz-Hyman was born in Massachusetts, has lived in several places around the world, including Israel, where she met her American-born husband, Tsvi. 

 

She has worked as a curator, a research coordinator, and an historical materials specialist in various locales over the course of her career. She's assisted with collections and exhibits as diverse as the letters of Chaim Weismann and the kitchen equipment of Colonial Williamsburg. 

 

She’s been an independent curator since 2005, working with historic sites and museums from New Jersey to Georgia, and other projects focused on 18th- and 19th-century African American material culture, with two intervals of working for the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation.

 

She has been a member of Rodef Sholom Temple in Newport News since she and her family moved to Virginia and has been, at various times, a board member and vice-president, president and board member of Sisterhood, volunteer librarian, Ritual Committee member and chair, and will become president in June. She is also a long-time board member of the United Jewish Community of the Virginia Peninsula.

 

Her family includes Moshe Hyzon and his daughter, Ariana; Michael Katz and Sarah and their children, Isaac and Lucy; and Sarah Katz-Hyman and her dog, Whoofi Goldberg.