1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:06,199 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. We got a message from a listener recently 2 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:10,080 Speaker 1: who was hoping for an episode on a woman aeronautical engineer. 3 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: You'll hear that email on a forthcoming episode of the 4 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:17,079 Speaker 1: show because we recorded some stuff out of order, but 5 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: we wanted to go ahead and re release something that 6 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 1: was relevant to that request, which is Mary Winston Jackson, 7 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 1: first black woman to be hired as an engineer at 8 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: NASA before it was known as NASA. At the end 9 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 1: of the episode, we talked about the Hidden Figures Congressional 10 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:35,479 Speaker 1: Gold Medal Act, which at that point had been introduced 11 00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:39,080 Speaker 1: in Congress but had not become law. It was signed 12 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:42,280 Speaker 1: into law on November eighth, twenty nineteen, and the ceremony 13 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: took place in September of twenty twenty four. The ceremony 14 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 1: honored Catherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn, Mary Jackson, and doctor Christine Darden, 15 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: whose family members accepted medals on their behalf. It also 16 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: honored all the other women who served at NASA and 17 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: its precursor and ACA as computers, mathematicians, and engineers between 18 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 1: the nineteen thirties and the nineteen seventies. This episode originally 19 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: came out on February eleventh, twenty nineteen. Enjoy Welcome to 20 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:24,920 Speaker 1: Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio. Hello, 21 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:28,160 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy B. Wilson and 22 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Frye. Folks who have seen the movie Hidden 23 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: Figures or read Margo Lee Shetterley's book by the same 24 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 1: title will probably recognize the name Mary Jackson. She was 25 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:40,840 Speaker 1: the first black woman to become an engineer at NASA, 26 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: and she's been on my list for an episode for 27 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaker 1: a while. We have a collection about women in stem fields, 28 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:51,960 Speaker 1: but we haven't talked specifically about a woman engineer, and 29 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:54,560 Speaker 1: she really hasn't gotten as much recognition as some of 30 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:57,320 Speaker 1: the other women who are featured in Hidden Figures, such 31 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 1: as Catherine Johnson, who calculated the trajectory for the United 32 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:04,720 Speaker 1: States first human spaceflight and celebrated her one hundredth birthday 33 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:08,640 Speaker 1: in August of twenty eighteen. But I didn't realize until 34 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 1: I got into this episode just how much Mary Jackson 35 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:15,680 Speaker 1: also worked to clear the way for other underrepresented people 36 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 1: at NASA. I mean, she changed the torte the whole 37 00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 1: direction of her career to do this, and in particular, 38 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:24,120 Speaker 1: she did a lot to try to make more room 39 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 1: for black women in the ranks of NASA engineers. That 40 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:30,160 Speaker 1: made me even more excited to talk about her today. Yeah, 41 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:33,360 Speaker 1: she's pretty great. And Mary Jackson started working as a 42 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: computer at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics or the 43 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:41,160 Speaker 1: NACA years before it was absorbed into NASA. So before 44 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:43,680 Speaker 1: we get to her specifically, we have to back up 45 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: and talk a little bit about human computers. If it 46 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:48,880 Speaker 1: sounds weird for you to say someone worked as a computer, 47 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:52,560 Speaker 1: that is what they were called human computers, and how 48 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 1: Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory now known as Langley Research Center 49 00:02:56,919 --> 00:03:00,120 Speaker 1: came to have a segregated pool of human computers in 50 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 1: the nineteen forties. There were surely people doing this kind 51 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:06,400 Speaker 1: of work in other parts of the world as well, 52 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: but our focus today is really on Europe and North America. 53 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:13,639 Speaker 1: In English, the word computer to mean a person who 54 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:16,600 Speaker 1: makes calculations or computation goes all the way back to 55 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 1: the early seventeenth century. Many of these early computers were men. 56 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:24,120 Speaker 1: They were apprentices and assistants who were doing this work 57 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:26,960 Speaker 1: as part of their education and training to become, say 58 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 1: an astronomer or an engineer. But women have played a 59 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:34,920 Speaker 1: really important part too, especially the wives and sisters and 60 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: daughters of astronomers and physicists and other scientists, some of 61 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:43,160 Speaker 1: whom were scientists in their own right. These women did 62 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: calculations to support the research of their male family members, 63 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 1: often without ever getting the credit for it. One example 64 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 1: is mathematician and astronomer Nicole ren Lepotte, whose husband Jean Andrei, 65 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: was France's royal clockmaker. She worked with astronomer Joseph Lalande 66 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 1: and mathematician Alexei Clairout to calculate the return of Halle's 67 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 1: comment in seventeen fifty eight. Laland later said, quote, for 68 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: six months, we made calculations from dawn to dusk, sometimes 69 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:16,360 Speaker 1: even during the meals. The help given by Madame Lapote 70 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:18,360 Speaker 1: was such that without her I would not have been 71 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:22,320 Speaker 1: able to complete such a colossal enterprise. But when Clara 72 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:25,800 Speaker 1: published their findings, which were far more accurate than previous 73 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:29,679 Speaker 1: predictions had been, he did not acknowledge Lapote's work at all. 74 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:34,159 Speaker 1: The Harvard College Observatory started hiring women as assistants toward 75 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:37,039 Speaker 1: the end of the nineteenth century. They cared for glass 76 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:39,719 Speaker 1: plates that were used to record images of the night sky, 77 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,640 Speaker 1: and they analyzed and recorded the images from those plates, 78 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 1: classifying the stars, and compiling the data. Observatory director Edward 79 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: Charles Pickering, in particular, started hiring a whole group of 80 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:58,359 Speaker 1: women computers in eighteen eighty one. They were nicknamed Pickering's Harem, 81 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 1: which was not a particular nice nickname, and nods to 82 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 1: sort of a perception that one of the reasons that 83 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:08,800 Speaker 1: some of these departments were all women was because the 84 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: men in charge wanted to be surrounded by young women. 85 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 1: We don't talk about that as much and other reasons 86 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: why there were women's staffs of computers, but that was 87 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:22,720 Speaker 1: a thing that there was, at least the perception was 88 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:25,880 Speaker 1: going on. One of the computers at the Harvard College 89 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:29,560 Speaker 1: Observatory was Anti Jump Cannon, who developed the method for 90 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:33,840 Speaker 1: classifying stars that is still used today. During World War Two, 91 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: hundreds of women worked as computers at the US Army's 92 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:40,960 Speaker 1: Ballistic Research Laboratory, doing the math for the firing tables 93 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:45,080 Speaker 1: for rockets and artillery. This included civilian women with degrees 94 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 1: in math or science, as well as women from the 95 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:51,360 Speaker 1: Women's Army Corps. Women worked as computers at the Manhattan 96 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:55,320 Speaker 1: Project that Los Alamos National Laboratory as well. Some were 97 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:58,000 Speaker 1: women with math or physics degrees who had been recruited 98 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:00,360 Speaker 1: for that work, and others were the wives of other 99 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:04,920 Speaker 1: Losalamos employees thanks to hidden figures. Today, the idea of 100 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:08,479 Speaker 1: a whole department of human computers is heavily associated with 101 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:12,719 Speaker 1: Langley and the Space race, but within the NACA, computing 102 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: departments weren't unique to Langley. Other NACA facilities had them 103 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:22,600 Speaker 1: as well. They also significantly predate the Space program. Langley 104 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:26,480 Speaker 1: created its first computing pool in nineteen thirty five, hiring 105 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:31,080 Speaker 1: five women as computers. These women did their calculations by hand, 106 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:35,760 Speaker 1: with the help of slide rules, mathematical tables, and mechanical calculators. 107 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:40,680 Speaker 1: Before the computing pool was established, Langley's engineers and scientists 108 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 1: had been performing all of their calculations themselves, and the 109 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:47,800 Speaker 1: idea was that moving the calculating work over to a 110 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:51,400 Speaker 1: dedicated department could free up those men to focus on 111 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:54,920 Speaker 1: the science and the engineering, while also making the process 112 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:58,120 Speaker 1: of computing faster and more accurate. That's also why all 113 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:01,280 Speaker 1: of those wartime departments were women, because the men were 114 00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 1: needed to go to combat roles. At first, many of 115 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:08,200 Speaker 1: the men who had previously done their own calculations resisted 116 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:12,440 Speaker 1: this idea and doubted whether women could do the necessary mass. 117 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:15,680 Speaker 1: But the creation of the computing group had exactly the 118 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 1: outcome the organization had been looking for. It was faster 119 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:22,800 Speaker 1: and more accurate. Plus, since women were being hired for 120 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:25,400 Speaker 1: the positions, they could be paid much less than the 121 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:30,200 Speaker 1: engineers and scientists whose work they were absorbing. Of course, 122 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:34,280 Speaker 1: we are not endorsing that fact that the administrators liked it. 123 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:37,600 Speaker 1: There's a lot to unpack. It's unfortunate, but that was 124 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 1: part of the logic train. Yeah, Computing was also considered 125 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:45,800 Speaker 1: a sub professional position, while engineering was a professional one. 126 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 1: So the top of the ranks for a computer was mathematician, 127 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:52,680 Speaker 1: and that was equivalent to an entry level position for 128 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:55,680 Speaker 1: a male engineer. So, in other words, the top of 129 00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:58,200 Speaker 1: the computing ranks lined up with the bottom of the 130 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: engineering ranks. And that brings us to how this job 131 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:05,400 Speaker 1: occupied a complicated spot in the grand scheme of things. 132 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:09,840 Speaker 1: Often women computers were paid significantly more than they might 133 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: have been in other work that was open to them, 134 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:15,640 Speaker 1: think of things like teaching school. But at the same time, 135 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:18,080 Speaker 1: many of the women who were hired to be computers 136 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:21,360 Speaker 1: were overqualified for the job, and as we just talked about, 137 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:24,040 Speaker 1: they were handling work that had previously been done by 138 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:27,640 Speaker 1: men who were higher up in the ORG chart. Because 139 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: the computers were women and their jobs were seen as 140 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 1: subordinate to those of male engineers, they also faced sexism 141 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:36,720 Speaker 1: in a way that they might not have in other industries. 142 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:41,640 Speaker 1: These disparities became even more pronounced when Langley started recruiting 143 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:44,959 Speaker 1: black women to work as computers. In July of nineteen 144 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:49,400 Speaker 1: forty one, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order eighty eight two, 145 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:53,319 Speaker 1: which said, in part quote, there shall be no discrimination 146 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:56,680 Speaker 1: in the employment of workers in defense industries and in 147 00:08:56,760 --> 00:09:01,280 Speaker 1: government because of race, creed, color, or national origin. This 148 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:05,560 Speaker 1: executive order followed extensive advocacy by A. Philip Randolph and 149 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:08,559 Speaker 1: other black labor and civil rights leaders, and it also 150 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:12,080 Speaker 1: established the Fair Employment Practices Committee to make sure that 151 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 1: order was enforced. This executive order came as the United 152 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 1: States was preparing for war. The previous May, the President 153 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:23,079 Speaker 1: had called for the US to build fifty thousand aircraft. 154 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:26,920 Speaker 1: This was a dramatic increase in aircraft production up from 155 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:30,480 Speaker 1: fewer than one hundred airplanes a month. Langley was where 156 00:09:30,559 --> 00:09:35,679 Speaker 1: aircraft manufacturers were having their high performance aircraft tested and improved. 157 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:39,960 Speaker 1: Langley engineers would put aircraft through test flights and wind 158 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:44,800 Speaker 1: tunnels and evaluate their performance and suggest improvements and refinements 159 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: on the design. The goal was to make aircraft safer, faster, 160 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:51,720 Speaker 1: and more effective. So when the President made this call 161 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:55,240 Speaker 1: for more aircraft, that gave Langley a lot more work 162 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:58,400 Speaker 1: to do, and the NACA had to hire a lot 163 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:01,880 Speaker 1: more people across the facility to do it. The expansion 164 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:04,360 Speaker 1: was so huge and dramatic that it led to a 165 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:08,360 Speaker 1: housing crisis in the area around Langley, addressed in part 166 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:10,880 Speaker 1: by building a dormitory to house some of the women. 167 00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:14,319 Speaker 1: A three hundred and seventy two unit dorm opened in 168 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:17,240 Speaker 1: the summer of nineteen forty three with a house mother 169 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,800 Speaker 1: who locked everything up at eleven PM. At first, a 170 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:23,840 Speaker 1: lot of these new hires were white candidates, but before 171 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:27,079 Speaker 1: long there just weren't enough white candidates to fill all 172 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:30,360 Speaker 1: the jobs, many of which were intended to be temporary 173 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:35,120 Speaker 1: wartime positions and not long term careers. So after Executive 174 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:38,120 Speaker 1: Order eighty eight OHO two, the administration at the NACA 175 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:43,319 Speaker 1: started actively recruiting black candidates to Phillies jobs. Langley had 176 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 1: black employees before this point, but mostly doing things like 177 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: janitorial work and groundskeeping in food service. This was the 178 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:54,400 Speaker 1: first time that Langley had recruited black employees for professional 179 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:59,040 Speaker 1: and sub professional roles. Although the executive order barred discrimination 180 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:03,680 Speaker 1: in hiring, Virginia, where Langley is located, was still racially 181 00:11:03,679 --> 00:11:07,360 Speaker 1: segregated by law, so this newly hired group of black 182 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:10,880 Speaker 1: computers who started work in nineteen forty three were placed 183 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:14,160 Speaker 1: in a segregated section known as the West Computing Group 184 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:17,480 Speaker 1: or just the West Group, in which black women reported 185 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:22,000 Speaker 1: to white supervisors. This also meant adding segregated restrooms and 186 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:25,840 Speaker 1: a segregated area of the lunch room. Segregation was so 187 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:29,080 Speaker 1: strictly maintained that many of the white computers and lab 188 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:33,240 Speaker 1: employees didn't realize that the West Group even existed. There 189 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:36,640 Speaker 1: was one computer named Maria Mann who made it a 190 00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:40,960 Speaker 1: point of repeatedly removing the colored computer sign that was 191 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:44,560 Speaker 1: used to mark the black's only part of the cafeteria. 192 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:46,800 Speaker 1: She would just basically take it and put it in 193 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:49,040 Speaker 1: her purse and leave, and a few days later it 194 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:51,160 Speaker 1: would show back up on the table again, and all 195 00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:53,400 Speaker 1: the computers are like, we know, we know this is 196 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:55,240 Speaker 1: where you want us to sit. We know this is 197 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 1: our designated area. You don't have to keep pointing it 198 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:00,480 Speaker 1: out to us. And her husband was like, Miriam, they're 199 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:04,880 Speaker 1: going to fire you. Miriam was kind of like, they're 200 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:07,520 Speaker 1: going to have to. She kept doing it until they 201 00:12:07,559 --> 00:12:10,240 Speaker 1: finally stopped putting the sign there. I'm like, that would 202 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:13,520 Speaker 1: be a firing well earned. In my opinion. We mentioned 203 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:15,720 Speaker 1: a few minutes ago how a woman might be better 204 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:17,880 Speaker 1: paid as a computer than she had been while working 205 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:22,120 Speaker 1: at another job, while still being overqualified for that computing job. 206 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:26,680 Speaker 1: This was particularly true for black women. Many had done 207 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:30,559 Speaker 1: exceptionally well in their study of math and had advanced degrees, 208 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:35,000 Speaker 1: years of experience teaching math and science, or both. Many, 209 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:37,480 Speaker 1: but certainly not all, of the white computers did not. 210 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 1: They might have a math degree but little to no 211 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:45,200 Speaker 1: experience beyond college. Additionally, teaching was really one of the 212 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:48,200 Speaker 1: most prestigious jobs that was available to black women in 213 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,800 Speaker 1: the nineteen forties. Within their communities, black teachers were really 214 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:54,800 Speaker 1: regarded with a lot of respect and admiration, and the 215 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:58,880 Speaker 1: increase in pay between working as a teacher and working 216 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:01,880 Speaker 1: as a computer could be even more dramatic for black 217 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:06,280 Speaker 1: computers than it was for white ones. Black teachers overwhelmingly 218 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:09,360 Speaker 1: taught in segregated schools for black children, and they tended 219 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:12,520 Speaker 1: to have poorer facilities and much lower pay than the 220 00:13:12,559 --> 00:13:15,800 Speaker 1: schools for white children. But once they got to Langley, 221 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:19,240 Speaker 1: these women were just a computer. They were often looked 222 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:23,040 Speaker 1: down on by the engineers whose calculations they were carrying out. 223 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:27,360 Speaker 1: Although the women hired as computers typically enjoyed and excelled 224 00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 1: at math, other people perceived that work as tedious drudgery. 225 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:35,160 Speaker 1: It could almost feel like a simultaneous step up and 226 00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:37,680 Speaker 1: a step down, And for many of the women, the 227 00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:40,440 Speaker 1: fact that they were doing critical wartime work at a 228 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:44,520 Speaker 1: facility as prestigious as Langley, but still being segregated by 229 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:48,040 Speaker 1: their race was even more galling. It was a little 230 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:50,960 Speaker 1: bit later, but still into this same world that Mary 231 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:53,880 Speaker 1: Jackson's stepped when she got hired to work at Langley, 232 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:56,160 Speaker 1: and we will get to her after a sponsor break. 233 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:09,240 Speaker 1: Mary Jackson was born Mary Winston on April ninth, nineteen 234 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:12,280 Speaker 1: twenty one, in Hampton, Virginia, not far away from Langley. 235 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:15,600 Speaker 1: She was from a large family and her parents, Ella 236 00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:19,080 Speaker 1: and Frank Winston, were extremely focused on making sure all 237 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:21,720 Speaker 1: of their children got a good education and were really 238 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:25,440 Speaker 1: good citizens and role models. Mary attended high school at 239 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:28,680 Speaker 1: George P. Phoenix Training School, which was on the campus 240 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:33,440 Speaker 1: of Hampton Institute, which is now Hampton University. Hampton Institute 241 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:36,120 Speaker 1: has actually come up on the show before, most recently, 242 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:39,640 Speaker 1: it is where Susan laflesh Pecatt continued her studies before 243 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:42,520 Speaker 1: going to medical school and becoming the first Native American 244 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:46,720 Speaker 1: woman in the US to earn an MD. Hampton Institute 245 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:49,480 Speaker 1: was founded in eighteen sixty eight to teach trade and 246 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:52,480 Speaker 1: industrial skills to freed people, as well as to train 247 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:55,360 Speaker 1: them to become teachers. By the nineteen twenties that had 248 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:58,960 Speaker 1: become a college with numerous courses of study. The city 249 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:04,040 Speaker 1: of Hampton didn't provide education for black children beyond elementary school, 250 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:08,000 Speaker 1: so the Hampton Institute had established Phoenix Training School for 251 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 1: that purpose. Mary graduated from Phoenix with highest honors and 252 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:16,160 Speaker 1: went on to college at the Hampton Institute. She expected 253 00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 1: that she would become a teacher, but she pushed herself 254 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:21,840 Speaker 1: to finish a double major in mathematics and physical science, 255 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:24,920 Speaker 1: even though that was a far more strenuous course of 256 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 1: study than she would need to teach. She graduated in 257 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:30,760 Speaker 1: nineteen forty two and was soon hired as a teacher 258 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:34,840 Speaker 1: at a segregated school for black students in Maryland. About 259 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:37,920 Speaker 1: a year later, Mary moved back home. Her father had 260 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:40,840 Speaker 1: become ill and she came back to help look after him, 261 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:43,360 Speaker 1: but she found that she couldn't get a teaching job 262 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:46,520 Speaker 1: back in Hampton. Two of her sisters were already teaching 263 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:49,520 Speaker 1: in Hampton, and there were nepotism rules that kept her 264 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:51,920 Speaker 1: from being able to join them, so she had to 265 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 1: find a job somewhere else. She started out as the 266 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,560 Speaker 1: secretary at the King Street USO, doing everything from keeping 267 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:01,760 Speaker 1: the books to acting as a host. The King Street 268 00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:04,720 Speaker 1: USO was one of the many USO centers established to 269 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:08,120 Speaker 1: serve black members of the military. The USO had a 270 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:11,800 Speaker 1: policy of serving the entire military regardless of race, but 271 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:15,200 Speaker 1: a lot of places had segregated USO centers for reasons 272 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: ranging from black service members requesting them to Jim Crow 273 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:22,360 Speaker 1: laws requiring them. Mary worked at the King Street USO 274 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:24,520 Speaker 1: until the end of World War Two, and it was 275 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:27,040 Speaker 1: there that she met her husband, lev Jackson, who was 276 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:30,720 Speaker 1: a serviceman from Alabama. They got married in nineteen forty four, 277 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:33,800 Speaker 1: and in nineteen forty six they had their first child together, 278 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:36,920 Speaker 1: a son who was also named Levi. Throughout all this 279 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:40,240 Speaker 1: Jackson was active with the Bethel Ame Church, where she 280 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:43,720 Speaker 1: and her family had long been members. She also started 281 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:46,240 Speaker 1: serving as a leader for the church's Girl Scout troupe, 282 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:49,320 Speaker 1: which she would do for about thirty years. She did 283 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:51,840 Speaker 1: not yet have a daughter. Her daughter, Carolyn, was born 284 00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:55,280 Speaker 1: several years later, but she loved the Girl Scouts. She 285 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:57,640 Speaker 1: was a teacher, a mentor, and a big sister for 286 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:00,000 Speaker 1: the girls in the troupe, many of whom were from 287 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:03,880 Speaker 1: working class and poor families with parents who did agricultural 288 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:06,400 Speaker 1: or domestic work. While she was working as the Girl 289 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:09,600 Speaker 1: Scout leader, Jackson started doing something that would also be 290 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:12,280 Speaker 1: a hallmark of her time at NASA and before that, 291 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:15,840 Speaker 1: the NACA. She really wanted the girls that she worked 292 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:19,040 Speaker 1: with to see what was possible beyond what was familiar 293 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:22,240 Speaker 1: to or expected of them, and she wanted to open 294 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:24,480 Speaker 1: as many doors for them as she could. So she 295 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:27,840 Speaker 1: arranged all kinds of field trips and projects aligned with 296 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:31,000 Speaker 1: all the various merit badges to really try to broaden 297 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:33,760 Speaker 1: their experience of the world and encourage them to set 298 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:37,400 Speaker 1: really ambitious goals for themselves. Later on, Jackson would also 299 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:40,280 Speaker 1: play a key role in integrating the Black and White 300 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:43,760 Speaker 1: Girl Scout councils in the area into one integrated council 301 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:47,119 Speaker 1: in her part of Virginia. Jackson returned to work when 302 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:51,000 Speaker 1: Levi Junior turned four. She applied for a clerical position 303 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:54,399 Speaker 1: with the Army and a computing position at Langley. The 304 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:57,040 Speaker 1: offer from the Army came first, and she worked there 305 00:17:57,080 --> 00:17:59,520 Speaker 1: for a few months before being offered the computer job 306 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:02,720 Speaker 1: at Langa, where the Army agreed her skills would be 307 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:05,920 Speaker 1: of better use. She started her job as one of 308 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:09,199 Speaker 1: the West Area Computers on April fifth, nineteen fifty one, 309 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:11,879 Speaker 1: at the age of twenty six. That was just a 310 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:14,879 Speaker 1: few months after Dorothy Vaughan became the head of the 311 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:17,720 Speaker 1: West Area Computers, having started out as one of the 312 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:21,960 Speaker 1: West Area's mathematicians. This made Vaughan the first black supervisor 313 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:25,720 Speaker 1: at Langley. This was almost three years after President Harry 314 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:29,280 Speaker 1: Truman had signed executive Orders ninety nine eighty and ninety 315 00:18:29,359 --> 00:18:32,960 Speaker 1: nine eighty one that happened on July twenty sixth, nineteen 316 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:36,520 Speaker 1: forty eight, and ordered the desegregation of the federal workforce 317 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:40,920 Speaker 1: and the US Armed Forces, but segregation was still required 318 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:44,399 Speaker 1: by law in Virginia. That had not changed, so when 319 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:48,240 Speaker 1: Jackson started work at Langley, the West Area computers were still, 320 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:52,240 Speaker 1: in the words of administrative officer Kemball Johnson quote, composed 321 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:56,720 Speaker 1: entirely of Negro women. The restroom and cafeteria facilities were 322 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:00,480 Speaker 1: also still segregated. It had, however, bec I'm a lot 323 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:03,440 Speaker 1: more common for the West Area computers to be assigned 324 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:06,840 Speaker 1: out to other departments at Langley for periods of days 325 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:10,520 Speaker 1: to months to work on specific projects. This became more 326 00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:13,919 Speaker 1: and more common as the white East Area computers shrank 327 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:18,560 Speaker 1: in number as their members were promoted or permanently transferred 328 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:22,960 Speaker 1: into other departments. In nineteen fifty three, after two years 329 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:26,119 Speaker 1: in the West Computing Group, Mary Jackson was assigned to 330 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:29,960 Speaker 1: a project on Langley's East side along with several white computers. 331 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:32,960 Speaker 1: Jackson didn't know the layout of the buildings on the 332 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:35,440 Speaker 1: East side at all, and when she asked her coworkers 333 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:37,879 Speaker 1: from that side of the campus for directions to the 334 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:40,960 Speaker 1: restroom they pointedly told her that they did not know 335 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:45,480 Speaker 1: where her restroom was. Jackson was frustrated and angry, not 336 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:49,160 Speaker 1: just about the insult of her bathroom and the dismissive 337 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:51,399 Speaker 1: way that her colleagues had talked to her, but also 338 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:54,439 Speaker 1: about being a second class citizen at Langley because of 339 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:56,960 Speaker 1: her race, even though she was a computer and she 340 00:19:57,040 --> 00:20:00,359 Speaker 1: had more experience than some of her colleagues did. Later 341 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:03,679 Speaker 1: that day, she ran into Kashmirez Zarniki, who worked at 342 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:07,879 Speaker 1: Langley's supersonic pressure tunnel. He asked how she was doing, 343 00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 1: and she answered him honestly. From a number of angles, 344 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:15,119 Speaker 1: it was socially unacceptable for a black person to unload 345 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:18,200 Speaker 1: their feelings on a white person, especially when it came 346 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:22,640 Speaker 1: to racism and discrimination. And it's not entirely clear whether 347 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:25,160 Speaker 1: Jackson had just gotten so fed up that she lost 348 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:28,400 Speaker 1: her temper or whether she had perceived Zarnaki, who had 349 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:31,159 Speaker 1: immigrated from Poland, as someone it was safe to be 350 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:34,919 Speaker 1: candid with, but either way, Zarnaki asked her why she 351 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:37,959 Speaker 1: didn't come work for him, and she agreed to, and 352 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:40,439 Speaker 1: this was before he learned that she had majored in 353 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:43,439 Speaker 1: both math and science. We don't want to apply that 354 00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:47,920 Speaker 1: these racial disparities in who it's okay to like vent 355 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:50,240 Speaker 1: feelings to we like. We don't want to imply that 356 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:54,040 Speaker 1: those disparities are gone, but that was what was happening 357 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:57,760 Speaker 1: at the time. So Jackson really made a name for 358 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:01,560 Speaker 1: herself almost immediately in in this new department when she 359 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:05,560 Speaker 1: completed some calculations for John Becker, who was the chief 360 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:08,959 Speaker 1: of the Compressibility Division and was multiple rungs up the 361 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:14,360 Speaker 1: ladder above Zarnecki. Jackson's final numbers didn't look quite right, 362 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:18,160 Speaker 1: and Becker insisted that they were wrong, but Jackson insisted 363 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:20,920 Speaker 1: that they were right. It turned out that Jackson had 364 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:24,159 Speaker 1: done all the calculations flawlessly, but the data that Becker 365 00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:27,040 Speaker 1: had given her to start with was wrong. This earned 366 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:29,800 Speaker 1: her an apology and praise not only for her skill, 367 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:33,440 Speaker 1: but also her confidence and her insight. Jarnickie soon suggested 368 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:37,920 Speaker 1: Jackson join the Engineer Training program. The NACA had very 369 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:41,280 Speaker 1: few women engineers at all, and no black women engineers. 370 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:45,040 Speaker 1: The Engineer Training program required after work classes from the 371 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:48,479 Speaker 1: University of Virginia, which were held at Hampton High School, 372 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:51,840 Speaker 1: which was still white's only, so to take the needed 373 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:54,639 Speaker 1: courses to become an engineer, Jackson had to get a 374 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:58,280 Speaker 1: special dispensation from the City of Hampton to allow her 375 00:21:58,359 --> 00:22:01,359 Speaker 1: to take the classes that she needed. She did, and 376 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:04,280 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty eight, after she finished her courses, Mary 377 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:08,840 Speaker 1: Jackson was promoted to engineer. This made her the NACA's 378 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:12,560 Speaker 1: first black woman engineer and possibly the first black woman 379 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:16,480 Speaker 1: working as an aeronautical engineer anywhere in the United States. 380 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:20,000 Speaker 1: Nineteen fifty eight was a year of big changes at Langley, 381 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:22,000 Speaker 1: and we're going to get to those after we first 382 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:33,879 Speaker 1: paused for another sponsor break. In nineteen fifty eight, the 383 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:38,159 Speaker 1: NACA and other similar organizations were merged together into the 384 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:42,080 Speaker 1: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA. As part of 385 00:22:42,119 --> 00:22:45,239 Speaker 1: that whole process, the West Area Computing Group, which at 386 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:48,520 Speaker 1: that point was the last segregated department in the organization, 387 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:53,000 Speaker 1: was finally formally disbanded. There were only nine employees of 388 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:56,200 Speaker 1: the West Computers by then, including Dorothy Vaughan, who had 389 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:58,760 Speaker 1: been running it for seven years. At that point, those 390 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:02,960 Speaker 1: remaining computers were moved to various engineering groups around Langley, 391 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 1: and Vaughan was one of the ones who started working 392 00:23:05,359 --> 00:23:09,560 Speaker 1: with the IBM computers that were gradually making human computers obsolete. 393 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:13,400 Speaker 1: Women who had been working with mathematical tables and mechanical 394 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:18,360 Speaker 1: calculators began working with punch cards instead. Mathematicians were gradually 395 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:21,879 Speaker 1: replaced by data analysts, and the teams working with the 396 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:25,359 Speaker 1: IBM computers were integrated in terms of both race and gender, 397 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:28,480 Speaker 1: although over time more and more of the data analysts 398 00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:32,639 Speaker 1: were young men. Mary Jackson co authored her first paper 399 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:36,479 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty eight as well effects of nose angle 400 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:40,400 Speaker 1: and mock number on transition on cones at supersonic speeds. 401 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:44,920 Speaker 1: She continued to work with Zarnecki at the Supersonic Pressure Tunnel. 402 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:48,440 Speaker 1: In addition to her work as an engineer, Jackson informally 403 00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:52,040 Speaker 1: mentored women and minorities, especially the ones who were hoping 404 00:23:52,119 --> 00:23:55,479 Speaker 1: to get promoted into engineering roles. In a way, she 405 00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:58,760 Speaker 1: was replicating and building on something that had always existed 406 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:02,119 Speaker 1: at the West Computing Group. Because they were segregated from 407 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:04,879 Speaker 1: the white staff, the West Computing Group had developed a 408 00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:09,160 Speaker 1: deep network of support and resources among themselves. This gave 409 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:11,040 Speaker 1: them the tools to try to mitigate some of the 410 00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:13,760 Speaker 1: racial discrimination that they faced on the job, something that 411 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:17,600 Speaker 1: black men who were scattered across the organization could struggle with, 412 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:21,000 Speaker 1: so as Jackson mentored people, she tried to maintain that 413 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:25,359 Speaker 1: support network, including connecting to the former West Group computers 414 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:28,080 Speaker 1: who were now working in other parts of the organization. 415 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:32,119 Speaker 1: As the Space race wound down and the US aeronautics 416 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:36,000 Speaker 1: industry became less focused on the idea of supersonic transport, 417 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:41,080 Speaker 1: Langley went through numerous reorgs and reductions in force. Jackson 418 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:44,719 Speaker 1: continued to work in the supersonic pressure tunnel, specializing in 419 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:49,000 Speaker 1: how air behaves in proximity to supersonic aircraft. She took 420 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:52,119 Speaker 1: classes in the programming language Fortrand to be able to 421 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:55,560 Speaker 1: work with the IBM computers as well, but eventually her 422 00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:59,200 Speaker 1: career hit a glass ceiling. Staff at Langley were paid 423 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:01,800 Speaker 1: according to the Sale Service pay scale known as the 424 00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:04,960 Speaker 1: GS scale, which ranks people in pay grades from one 425 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:08,399 Speaker 1: to fifteen. Jackson got up to GS twelve, which was 426 00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:11,080 Speaker 1: the top of the non management scale for her role. 427 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:14,720 Speaker 1: There were very few women at Langley in grade GS 428 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:18,000 Speaker 1: thirteen or above, and Jackson found that no matter how 429 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:20,479 Speaker 1: hard she worked, she just could not get to that 430 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:25,679 Speaker 1: next level. In nineteen seventy nine, Casmirez Zarnecki retired and 431 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:28,560 Speaker 1: by that point Jackson had written or co written twelve 432 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:32,880 Speaker 1: technical publications for NASA and its predecessor. But rather than 433 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:36,119 Speaker 1: continuing to struggle for another promotion that seemed like it 434 00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:39,720 Speaker 1: would just never come, she decided to change directions. A 435 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:43,800 Speaker 1: position had opened up as Langley's Federal Women's Program Manager. 436 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:46,399 Speaker 1: This was a role that would let Jackson focus on 437 00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:49,280 Speaker 1: what she had been doing informally as well as through 438 00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:51,560 Speaker 1: the committees that she had been on at work, and 439 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:54,880 Speaker 1: it was also a demotion down to GS eleven, which 440 00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:57,840 Speaker 1: she willingly accepted for the sake of helping other people. 441 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:00,439 Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty one, she was offered the role of 442 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:03,560 Speaker 1: Equal Opportunity Specialist, and she went to Washington, d C. 443 00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:06,560 Speaker 1: To train for it. She spent the last years of 444 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:09,560 Speaker 1: her career at NASA focused on making sure women and 445 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:13,960 Speaker 1: minorities had equal opportunities at Langley. In these roles, Jackson 446 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:16,520 Speaker 1: took a more formal approach to the mentoring that she 447 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:19,159 Speaker 1: had been doing while she was still an engineer. She 448 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:22,080 Speaker 1: realized that a lot of the people who seemed like 449 00:26:22,119 --> 00:26:25,639 Speaker 1: they were being overlooked for promotions had basically the same 450 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:28,560 Speaker 1: degree and experience as their peers, but they might be 451 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:33,080 Speaker 1: missing one particular course or one specific skill. She started 452 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:37,440 Speaker 1: intentionally seeking out people who fit this pattern to encourage 453 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:39,600 Speaker 1: them to go take that one class they needed to 454 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:42,840 Speaker 1: close the gap. But she paid particular attention to women 455 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:45,200 Speaker 1: in the lower ranks of the organization who had the 456 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:48,600 Speaker 1: right skills and background otherwise to become an engineer. She 457 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:51,439 Speaker 1: also kept this focus outside of work, working as a 458 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:55,080 Speaker 1: Girl Scout leader and doing extensive lecturing and workshops at 459 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:58,760 Speaker 1: high schools in her area, demonstrating for students that neither 460 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:01,960 Speaker 1: engineering nor lay dad was a world reserved only for 461 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:05,239 Speaker 1: white men. She said of this work quote, sometimes they 462 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:07,840 Speaker 1: are not aware of the number of black scientists and 463 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:10,840 Speaker 1: don't even know of the career opportunities until it is 464 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:14,480 Speaker 1: too late. Jackson retired from Langley in nineteen eighty five. 465 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:18,520 Speaker 1: She kept up her volunteer community and church work after retiring, 466 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:21,480 Speaker 1: and she died on February eleventh, two thousand and five, 467 00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:24,119 Speaker 1: at the age of eighty three. She died in a 468 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:27,840 Speaker 1: retirement home in Hampton, Virginia, and was survived by her children, 469 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:31,120 Speaker 1: as well as grandchildren and great grandchildren. In twenty eighteen, 470 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:34,560 Speaker 1: the Salt Lake City Board of Education unanimously voted that 471 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:38,119 Speaker 1: Jackson Elementary School in Salt Lake City, previously named for 472 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:43,040 Speaker 1: President Andrew Jackson, would be renamed Mary W. Jackson Elementary School. 473 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:46,240 Speaker 1: That same year, the US Senate passed the Hidden Figures 474 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:50,160 Speaker 1: Congressional Gold Medal Act, which would award the Congressional Gold 475 00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:53,720 Speaker 1: Medal to Catherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and doctor 476 00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:56,880 Speaker 1: Christine Darden. Darden was the first black person of any 477 00:27:57,000 --> 00:28:00,800 Speaker 1: gender to be promoted to the senior executive service at Langley. 478 00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:04,080 Speaker 1: The House referred the bill to a committee in November 479 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:06,760 Speaker 1: of twenty eighteen. As of when we are recording this, 480 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:09,320 Speaker 1: which is the end of January twenty nineteen, there have 481 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:15,159 Speaker 1: not been further updates on it, perhaps unsurprisingly given what 482 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:21,160 Speaker 1: January was like in the government. That is true. Uh oh, Mary, 483 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:24,199 Speaker 1: I love her so much. I do too. If you 484 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:28,000 Speaker 1: want to learn more about the computers and more about 485 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:30,600 Speaker 1: like life at Langley during all this time, really do 486 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:34,359 Speaker 1: go read Hidden Figures. You can also, if you like, 487 00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:38,520 Speaker 1: go amuse yourself by reading the one star reviews of 488 00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:42,200 Speaker 1: the book Hidden Figures by people who clearly thought they 489 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:50,840 Speaker 1: were signing up to read a novel. Oh well, yeah, 490 00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:54,600 Speaker 1: it's things like this book introduces ten new characters in 491 00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:57,000 Speaker 1: a paragraph and then just never follows up on them. 492 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:01,880 Speaker 1: Beginning I was weren't character, there's honey, They were people, people, 493 00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:11,280 Speaker 1: all blister hearts. Thanks so much for joining us on 494 00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:13,760 Speaker 1: this Saturday. If you'd like to send us a note, 495 00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:18,520 Speaker 1: our email addresses History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com, and 496 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:21,280 Speaker 1: you can subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app, 497 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:24,680 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.