1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,239 Speaker 1: Hey, history enthusiasts, you get not one, but two events 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:05,960 Speaker 1: in history today. With that said, on with the show. 3 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:10,479 Speaker 1: Hi everyone, welcome to this day in History class, where 4 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:23,160 Speaker 1: we uncover the remnants of history every day. The day 5 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: was April nine. Mary Winston was born in Hampton, Virginia, 6 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 1: to Ella and Frank Winston. Mary would grow up to 7 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:37,600 Speaker 1: become an accomplished mathematician and aerospace engineer, and the first 8 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: black female engineer to work at the National Aeronautics and 9 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 1: Space Administration, or NASA. Mary faced the challenges of segregation 10 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:50,239 Speaker 1: and discrimination as she progressed in her career, as did 11 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 1: many of the other black women who worked as mathematicians 12 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 1: and engineers. But now she's recognized for her contributions to 13 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: the space program and her commitment to serving her unity 14 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:05,200 Speaker 1: and creating more opportunities for women in science. Mary went 15 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:08,840 Speaker 1: to the segregated George P. Phoenix Training School, and when 16 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:12,640 Speaker 1: she graduated from there with highest honors, she began attending 17 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 1: the Hampton Institute. She graduated from Hampton in nineteen forty 18 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 1: two with Bachelor of Science degrees and Math and Physical sciences. 19 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: Her plan was to become a teacher, and she did 20 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:27,559 Speaker 1: teach math for a year at an all black school 21 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: in Calbert County, Maryland. When she went back to Hampton 22 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:34,679 Speaker 1: to care for her ailing father, she started working as 23 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: a receptionist at the King Street USO Club, an organization 24 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:41,959 Speaker 1: that served black military service members during World War Two. 25 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 1: Over the next several years, she married Levi Jackson and 26 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 1: had a son, Levi Jr. She took time off work 27 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 1: to raise little Levi, and took a couple more jobs 28 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: as a bookkeeper and an army secretary. But in nineteen 29 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: fifty one, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics recruited Mary 30 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: to be a research mathematician or a human computer. She 31 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:10,640 Speaker 1: began working in the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in the 32 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:14,960 Speaker 1: segregated West Area computing section, where all the mathematicians were 33 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:18,760 Speaker 1: black women, and reported to Dorothy Vaughan, whom she had 34 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: met while she was an Army secretary at Fort Monroe. 35 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:26,240 Speaker 1: At the time, a ton of computing jobs were necessary 36 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:29,359 Speaker 1: to make up for increased production due to World War Two. 37 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:33,920 Speaker 1: White women were being hired as computers, but after employment 38 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:37,240 Speaker 1: discrimination was outlawed by Executive Order ad A. Oh two 39 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 1: black women joined the ranks of mathematicians at Langley. Of course, 40 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:45,240 Speaker 1: that's not to say discrimination and hiring and within the 41 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 1: jobs ended all of a sudden. Computing was often viewed 42 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:52,800 Speaker 1: as inferior work by the male engineers, and segregation, racism, 43 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:55,760 Speaker 1: and sexism were still a part of the mathematicians experience. 44 00:02:56,919 --> 00:03:01,160 Speaker 1: Despite this, Mary excelled. After two years in the computing pool, 45 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 1: engineer Casimir's star Nicki asked her to come work for 46 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: him and the Supersonic Pressure Tunnel, a sixty horsepower wind tunnel. 47 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:14,240 Speaker 1: When Zarniki suggested she trained to be promoted to an engineer, 48 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 1: she accepted the challenge. She petitioned the city of Hampton 49 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,399 Speaker 1: to be able to attend all white graduate level math 50 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: and physics classes at the University of Virginia. Her petition 51 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,200 Speaker 1: was accepted, she took the courses, and she was promoted 52 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:32,560 Speaker 1: in ninety eight to become the first black female engineer 53 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,720 Speaker 1: at NASA, which was founded in July of that same year. 54 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: She also co authored her first report that year, called 55 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: effects of nose angle and mock number on transition on 56 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 1: cones at supersonic speeds. Over the next couple of decades, 57 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: Mary worked as an aeronautical engineer, working on reports that 58 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: mainly focused on the behavior of the boundary layer of 59 00:03:55,680 --> 00:04:00,840 Speaker 1: air around airplanes. But she eventually grew fresh traded with 60 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 1: not being promoted and not being able to break into 61 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: management positions. She left engineering and in nineteen seventy nine 62 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:13,560 Speaker 1: became Langley's Federal Women's Program Manager. In that position, she 63 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:16,920 Speaker 1: was able to help hire women and people in underrepresented groups, 64 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:22,359 Speaker 1: help them advance their careers and uplift their accomplishments. In 65 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,719 Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies, Mary helped build a wind tunnel for 66 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:30,359 Speaker 1: the Science Club at Hampton's King Street Community Center. She 67 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 1: said the following about that act in a local newspaper. 68 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:36,040 Speaker 1: We have to do something like this to get them 69 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: interested in science. Sometimes they are not aware of the 70 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:42,280 Speaker 1: number of black scientists and don't even know of the 71 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:47,040 Speaker 1: career opportunities until it is too late. Mary retired from 72 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:50,040 Speaker 1: Langley in nineteen eighty five, by which time she had 73 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:53,760 Speaker 1: received some awards for her leadership and service. She died 74 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 1: in February of two thousand five, but she has since 75 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: received more recognition, including being featured in a best selling 76 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:04,800 Speaker 1: book called Hidden Figures and a movie of the same name. 77 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:09,159 Speaker 1: I'm even stepf Coote and hopefully you know a little 78 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:13,360 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If you'd 79 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: like to learn more about Mary Jackson, you can listen 80 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:18,360 Speaker 1: to the episode of Stuff you Missed in History Class 81 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:23,640 Speaker 1: called Mary Winston Jackson, NASA Engineer. If there are any 82 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 1: upcoming days in history that you'd really like me to 83 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:29,000 Speaker 1: cover on the show, give us a shower on social 84 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:35,240 Speaker 1: media at t d i h C podcast. Thank you 85 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:39,440 Speaker 1: for joining me today. See you same place, same time tomorrow. 86 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:54,839 Speaker 1: Hey everyone, I'm Eaves and welcome to the Same History Class, 87 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:57,760 Speaker 1: a podcast that travels back in time, one day at 88 00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 1: a time. The day was April ninth, eighteen sixteen. The 89 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:14,760 Speaker 1: African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded. The A M. E. Church, 90 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:18,160 Speaker 1: as it's known, was the first organized denomination in the 91 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:21,920 Speaker 1: US to be formed by black people. The A M. E. 92 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:25,040 Speaker 1: Church has its roots in the Free African Society, an 93 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:28,320 Speaker 1: organization that provided aid to newly freed black people in 94 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:32,599 Speaker 1: the US. Black preachers Richard Allen and Absalom Jones, as 95 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:35,760 Speaker 1: well as other people in Philadelphia, formed the organization in 96 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 1: the seventeen eighties. Facing discrimination at St. George's Methodist Episcopal 97 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:45,160 Speaker 1: Church in Philadelphia, a group of black congregants decided to 98 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:48,599 Speaker 1: leave the church. Most of them wanted to affiliate with 99 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:51,560 Speaker 1: the Protestant Episcopal Church since they did not want to 100 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:55,039 Speaker 1: align with the Methodist who had persecuted them. So the 101 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:59,040 Speaker 1: Free African Society opened the St. Thomas African Episcopal Church 102 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:02,600 Speaker 1: with Joan as the head, but Alan led a small 103 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:06,839 Speaker 1: group of people who wanted to remain Methodists. In seventeen 104 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:11,280 Speaker 1: ninety four, the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church was dedicated 105 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 1: into service. In seventeen ninety nine, Bishop Francis Asbury of 106 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:20,080 Speaker 1: the Methodist Episcopal Church ordained Richard Allen as minister of Bethel. 107 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:24,000 Speaker 1: Alan and white Methodist leaders developed the Founding Document of 108 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:27,440 Speaker 1: Bethel a m E. But as membership in the church grew, 109 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: so did tensions between the black people and the church 110 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:34,720 Speaker 1: and white authorities. The latter attempted to limit Bethel's independence, 111 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:38,920 Speaker 1: doing things like threatening to prevent church meetings. They still 112 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:42,200 Speaker 1: considered Bethel to be an entity that existed within St. 113 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: George's and therefore subject to its authority, but Allen continued 114 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:51,240 Speaker 1: to advocate for African Methodist independence, even as white Methodists 115 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 1: escalated the tactics that they used to oppose the church's authority. 116 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 1: He turned to an attorney who advised him to add 117 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:01,920 Speaker 1: an African supplement to the church is founding document. This 118 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:06,240 Speaker 1: supplement said that Bethel's trustees, rather than the Methodist Conference, 119 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:09,680 Speaker 1: controlled the church's property. It also said that if the 120 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:12,920 Speaker 1: pastor at St. George's did not fulfill his preaching and 121 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:17,520 Speaker 1: sacramental obligations, the trustees would call on someone else. On 122 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: top of Allen's efforts, Bethel members rejected the actions of St. 123 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:26,640 Speaker 1: George's ministers, who attempted to assert their authority. By eighteen sixteen, 124 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:30,400 Speaker 1: Bethel had around fourteen hundred members. In the beginning of 125 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:34,160 Speaker 1: that year, the validity of Allen's African supplement was challenged 126 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:38,959 Speaker 1: in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Allen emerged victorious in the case, 127 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:42,600 Speaker 1: with the Court of firming Bethel's independence and Allen's right 128 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:47,120 Speaker 1: to self determination as a pastor. James Champion, a minister 129 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:50,319 Speaker 1: at Bethel, and Daniel Coker, a Black Methodist in Baltimore, 130 00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:53,920 Speaker 1: wrote a treatise about the rise of African Methodism with Allan, 131 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:59,439 Speaker 1: and Allen encouraged their congregations to form a denomination. On 132 00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:03,680 Speaker 1: April eighteen sixteen, Alan and Coker called Black Methodists to 133 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:07,560 Speaker 1: meet in Philadelphia. Coker was elected the first bishop of 134 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:11,719 Speaker 1: the African Methodist Episcopal Church, but Coker either declined the 135 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:15,360 Speaker 1: position or resigned, and soon Allen was consecrated as the 136 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:19,440 Speaker 1: first bishop of the church. As more black preachers and 137 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:22,520 Speaker 1: parishioners grew tired of dealing with racism and the Methodist 138 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:26,760 Speaker 1: Episcopal Church, they withdrew to a line with the African Methodists. 139 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:31,520 Speaker 1: By the eighteen fifties, the denomination had reached California, and 140 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: after the Civil War and reconstruction years, membership and the 141 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:39,280 Speaker 1: AAMI Church grew significantly. Today, the church has membership in 142 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:43,960 Speaker 1: dozens of countries. I'm Eve Jeff Coote and hopefully you 143 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:47,199 Speaker 1: know a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 144 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: If there's something or someone you really loved to hear 145 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:53,480 Speaker 1: about on the show, send your ideas for topics to 146 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:57,280 Speaker 1: us at this Day at I heeart media dot com. 147 00:09:57,320 --> 00:09:59,320 Speaker 1: If you'd rather leave us a note on social media, 148 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:03,520 Speaker 1: you conduce on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram at t D 149 00:10:03,559 --> 00:10:07,560 Speaker 1: I h C Podcast. Thanks again for listening to the 150 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 1: show and we'll see you again tomorrow. M M for 151 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:19,360 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart 152 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:21,960 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 153 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:22,640 Speaker 1: favorite shows.