1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. 3 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:18,079 Speaker 1: Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. Back in the summer, we 4 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:21,119 Speaker 1: got an email from listener ED about our episode on 5 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:26,079 Speaker 1: electrical engineer Edwin Howard Armstrong, and in that email, Ed 6 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:28,320 Speaker 1: said that he was waiting with baited breath for an 7 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:32,479 Speaker 1: episode on a woman aeronautical engineer. So we ran our 8 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 1: episode on mathematician and aerospace engineer Mary Winston Jackson as 9 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:40,239 Speaker 1: a Saturday classic after we got that email, and I 10 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 1: also started looking for ideas that might lead us to 11 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:47,200 Speaker 1: a new episode on that theme. I have finally gotten 12 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:51,680 Speaker 1: to that episode today with aerospace engineer Mary Golda Ross. 13 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 1: She was the first indigenous woman in the United States 14 00:00:55,640 --> 00:01:00,640 Speaker 1: known to have become an engineer. She does for the 15 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:05,640 Speaker 1: purpose of expectations management if you are really looking forward 16 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:10,440 Speaker 1: to hearing about some extremely cool feats of aerospace engineering. 17 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:14,120 Speaker 1: We don't actually have a lot of detail about the 18 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:17,480 Speaker 1: specifics of her work as an engineer because a lot 19 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:20,319 Speaker 1: of it was and still is classified or if not 20 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:27,120 Speaker 1: actually classified like very highly secretive. Mary Golda Ross was 21 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: born on August ninth, nineteen oh eight. She was the 22 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:34,560 Speaker 1: second child born to William Wallace Ross Junior, known as Biscuit, 23 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 1: and Mary Henrietta Moore Ross. Her other siblings were Francis, Curtis, Billy, Charles, 24 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 1: and Robert, and her family and people close to her 25 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaker 1: called her Gold in her professional life. Later on people 26 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:51,280 Speaker 1: called her Mary. That is what we will also do. Yeah, 27 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:54,560 Speaker 1: it felt a little overly familiar to call her a 28 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,440 Speaker 1: name that was really her family and community's name when 29 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:01,240 Speaker 1: we aren't part of the family or the community. Mary's 30 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:05,360 Speaker 1: great great grandfather was John Ross, who was principal chief 31 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: of the Cherokee Nation for thirty eight years. He died 32 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:11,959 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty six, which was decades before Mary was born, 33 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: but his life and his work, and the period of 34 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:18,680 Speaker 1: history that he lived through all had an enormous impact 35 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 1: on her and her family and the rest of the Cherokee. 36 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:25,040 Speaker 1: He was principal chief leading up to and during their 37 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:28,359 Speaker 1: removal from their ancestral homeland in and around the southern 38 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 1: Apalachian Mountains and the deadly forced march westward that came 39 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:34,800 Speaker 1: to be known as the Trail of Tears, and the 40 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:38,640 Speaker 1: establishment of the Cherokee Nation in what's now Oklahoma, and 41 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: then the US Civil War. That was a lot, and 42 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 1: trying to cover all of it would take at least 43 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: a whole episode, probably more than one part of an episode. 44 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:53,240 Speaker 1: And it is a story that's simultaneously very complicated and 45 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: culturally very important to the Cherokee. So while we are 46 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:00,160 Speaker 1: not going to talk about all of the details of 47 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: that earlier history, we are going to touch on some 48 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 1: of the connecting points between Mary Golda Ross's life and 49 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:11,919 Speaker 1: that of her ancestor. Mary was born in park Hill, Oklahoma. 50 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:15,520 Speaker 1: Park Hill is south of Taalaquah, which was established as 51 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: the Cherokee capital in eighteen thirty nine. John Ross helped 52 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:22,320 Speaker 1: build this capital, which serves as the capital of the 53 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:26,640 Speaker 1: Cherokee Nation today. Tallaqua is also the capital of the 54 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:30,680 Speaker 1: United Katuah band of Cherokee Indians, who are largely descended 55 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:34,239 Speaker 1: from people who moved west prior to the Trail of Tears. 56 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 1: A third federally recognized Cherokee tribe is the Eastern band 57 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:42,280 Speaker 1: of Cherokee Indians, who are largely descended from people who 58 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 1: remained in the Appalachian Mountains during the removal, which has 59 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: its capital in Cherokee, North Carolina. So there are three 60 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: distinct but also related Cherokee tribes that are federally recognized today. 61 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: But when Mary was born, at least from the US 62 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:01,760 Speaker 1: government's point of view, the Cherokee government had been dissolved. 63 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 1: This was part of both the lead up to Oklahoma 64 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 1: becoming a state and the federal government's overall policy toward 65 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:14,520 Speaker 1: indigenous people and nations. That policy was one of allotment 66 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 1: and assimilation. Starting in eighteen eighty seven, the US had 67 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 1: passed a series of laws that broke up reservations and 68 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:27,159 Speaker 1: dissolved indigenous governments and institutions, even though in many cases 69 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: the United States had signed treaties with those governments. This 70 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,239 Speaker 1: process was still ongoing when Mary Golda Ross was born, 71 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:37,760 Speaker 1: but it's clear that she and her family thought of 72 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 1: themselves as Cherokee. This included the way she described her 73 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 1: education quote, I started with a firm foundation in math 74 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:49,360 Speaker 1: and some qualities that came down from my Indian heritage. 75 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:53,799 Speaker 1: I had a great deal of curiosity, interest, willingness to study, 76 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:57,159 Speaker 1: to do research, and to learn, to try out new ideas, 77 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:01,960 Speaker 1: and most of all, to work. Education and learning are 78 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:05,839 Speaker 1: culturally important to the Cherokee, and another of John Ross's 79 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: efforts had been the establishment of male and female seminaries 80 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: in Taalaquah, and those seminaries opened in eighteen fifty one. 81 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,680 Speaker 1: These were some of the earliest institutes for higher learning 82 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: west of the Mississippi River, and these seminaries continued to 83 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:25,359 Speaker 1: operate until they were dissolved under those assimilationist laws that 84 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:30,320 Speaker 1: we just mentioned. A teacher's college called Northeastern Normal School 85 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 1: was established on the site of the female seminary in 86 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:38,080 Speaker 1: nineteen oh nine. The earlier existence of the seminaries and 87 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: then the establishment of the teachers college meant the public 88 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:45,839 Speaker 1: schools in Talliquah were known to be particularly good. Mary's 89 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:48,840 Speaker 1: parents recognized that she had an aptitude and a love 90 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:51,840 Speaker 1: for learning, and she skipped a grade in elementary school 91 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:55,280 Speaker 1: in park Hill, so they eventually sent her to live 92 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:58,200 Speaker 1: with her grandparents in Tallaquas, who she could take advantage 93 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:02,400 Speaker 1: of the schools there. Taliquan park Hill are only about 94 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:05,120 Speaker 1: five miles apart, which is not far at all by 95 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:08,840 Speaker 1: today's transportation standards, but in the nineteen teens and twenties 96 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:12,960 Speaker 1: it probably felt like a much bigger deal. Mary graduated 97 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:16,279 Speaker 1: from high school at the age of sixteen. By that point, 98 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:20,240 Speaker 1: the normal school had become Northeastern State Teachers College, and 99 00:06:20,279 --> 00:06:24,240 Speaker 1: she continued her education there. She later told interviewers that 100 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:27,240 Speaker 1: when she was enrolling, she was asked what she wanted 101 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:29,480 Speaker 1: her major to be, and she didn't really know what 102 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:32,480 Speaker 1: that meant. So when she was asked the clarifying question 103 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:35,719 Speaker 1: of what's your favorite subject, she said it was math. 104 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: She had loved math from a very early age and 105 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:42,080 Speaker 1: described it as feeling like a game to her. She 106 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,480 Speaker 1: graduated with a bachelor's degree in math as well as 107 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:51,000 Speaker 1: teaching qualifications on July nineteenth, nineteen twenty eight. Northeastern State 108 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:56,960 Speaker 1: Teachers College is now Northeastern State University. After graduating, Ross 109 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 1: started teaching science and math at rural public schools around Oklahoma, 110 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:04,039 Speaker 1: and for a year she served as principal at a 111 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:08,120 Speaker 1: school in Osage. All of this was during the Great Depression, 112 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:12,120 Speaker 1: and she was usually boarding with school administrators and other teachers. 113 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: She started to wonder if she could find a career 114 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:18,240 Speaker 1: that would allow her to earn more money and maybe 115 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:21,120 Speaker 1: see more of the world, so she took the Civil 116 00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 1: Service exam in nineteen thirty four, and she was hired 117 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 1: as a statistician at the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, 118 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:32,120 Speaker 1: d C. In nineteen thirty five. She worked as a 119 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:35,680 Speaker 1: statistician for about a year. Then the Bureau of Indian 120 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:39,280 Speaker 1: Affairs told her that they needed her experience as an 121 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:42,440 Speaker 1: educator out in the field, and she was assigned to 122 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 1: be a student advisor at the Santa Fe Indian School 123 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 1: in New Mexico. This school had been established in eighteen 124 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:54,200 Speaker 1: ninety under the Federal Boarding School program, which separated Indigenous 125 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:57,160 Speaker 1: students from their families and their cultures in an effort 126 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 1: to quote assimilate them into white society. In other words, 127 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:04,280 Speaker 1: this school was established as part of a whole effort 128 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 1: at cultural genocide. President Joe Biden issued a formal apology 129 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 1: for the boarding school program in twenty twenty four. That 130 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:17,239 Speaker 1: followed years of investigations and reports, including the Federal Indian 131 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:21,160 Speaker 1: Boarding School Initiative, which released two volumes of reports on 132 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:24,800 Speaker 1: this in twenty twenty and twenty twenty four. We talked 133 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:27,880 Speaker 1: about this system in more detail in our two part 134 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:31,160 Speaker 1: episode on the Fort Shaw Indian School Girls basketball team, 135 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:34,120 Speaker 1: which came out in twenty seventeen, and in our three 136 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:37,200 Speaker 1: parter on Jim Thorpe, which came out in twenty twenty. 137 00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 1: When Ross was hired to work at the school, Federal 138 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:45,400 Speaker 1: policy toward Indigenous people and nations had shifted again away 139 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:49,040 Speaker 1: from assimilation an allotment and toward what is sometimes known 140 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:54,000 Speaker 1: as the reorganization period after the Indian Reorganization Act that 141 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 1: was passed in nineteen thirty four. Multiple factors led into 142 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:01,440 Speaker 1: this shift, including the large numbers of Indigenous people who 143 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:04,560 Speaker 1: had served in the US military during World War One 144 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:08,880 Speaker 1: and the publication of the Merriam Report formerly titled The 145 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:13,319 Speaker 1: Problem of Indian Administration in nineteen twenty eight. This was 146 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:17,320 Speaker 1: an incredibly critical report on the federal government's policies toward 147 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:22,640 Speaker 1: Indigenous people, including the boarding schools. The Meriam Report called 148 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:27,120 Speaker 1: for widespread reforms. Some of the reforms that were put 149 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 1: in place afterward included the repeal of unjust laws that 150 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:35,000 Speaker 1: had targeted Indigenous people, the passage of the Indian Reorganization 151 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: Act that we just mentioned, and an end to the 152 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:43,040 Speaker 1: overall policy of allotment. The Indian Reorganization Act was part 153 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:45,880 Speaker 1: of what became known as the Indian New Deal, which 154 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:49,360 Speaker 1: was focused on both helping Indigenous nations recover from the 155 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:53,520 Speaker 1: Great Depression, and preserving indigenous cultures and ways of life, 156 00:09:53,559 --> 00:09:58,479 Speaker 1: and indigenous lands and tribal sovereignty. These kinds of reforms 157 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: also connected to the b Schools, and when Ross was 158 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:05,560 Speaker 1: working at Santa Fe Indian School, its focus was shifting 159 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:09,640 Speaker 1: toward one of self determination and autonomy for the pueblo 160 00:10:09,679 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: and students who studied there. Ross also advised students at 161 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:17,959 Speaker 1: other schools in the area. During her summers, Ross went 162 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:21,800 Speaker 1: to Colorado State Teachers College now the University of Northern 163 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:26,640 Speaker 1: Colorado to pursue graduate studies. Over the span of six years, 164 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:30,840 Speaker 1: she completed the necessary coursework for a master's degree in mathematics. 165 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:34,640 Speaker 1: She was also fascinated with space and interested in the 166 00:10:34,679 --> 00:10:38,400 Speaker 1: idea of sending objects or even people into space, so 167 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: even though it didn't count toward her master's degree, she 168 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:46,480 Speaker 1: also took classes in astronomy. Marygolda Ross's career had a 169 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:49,960 Speaker 1: huge shift after the start of World War Two, which 170 00:10:49,960 --> 00:11:02,200 Speaker 1: we will get to after a sponsor break. There is 171 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:06,000 Speaker 1: some fuzziness in people's accounts of how Mary Golda Ross 172 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:09,839 Speaker 1: made her way to California in nineteen forty two. Some 173 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:12,840 Speaker 1: of them say that her father really encouraged her to go, 174 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:15,319 Speaker 1: and others say that she was visiting a family member 175 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:17,160 Speaker 1: or a friend and then sort of fell in love 176 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:20,680 Speaker 1: with California. Obviously, it could have been a combination of 177 00:11:20,679 --> 00:11:23,720 Speaker 1: all of this and whatever the details were. In nineteen 178 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:27,800 Speaker 1: forty two, she was hired as a mathematical research assistant 179 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:33,079 Speaker 1: at Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in Burbank, California. Her colleagues there 180 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:37,080 Speaker 1: knew her as Mary Ross. This is almost certainly a 181 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:39,640 Speaker 1: job that was open to her because of World War 182 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:42,440 Speaker 1: II and the number of men who had either volunteered 183 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:46,240 Speaker 1: or been drafted into military service. Her job as a 184 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:49,199 Speaker 1: mathematical research assistant likely would have been much like that 185 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:52,679 Speaker 1: of a human computer, including the hidden figures who were 186 00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:55,120 Speaker 1: part of the space program after the war was over, 187 00:11:55,559 --> 00:11:58,480 Speaker 1: so using a slide rule and a calculating machine to 188 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:01,960 Speaker 1: do complex computations that probably would be handled by a 189 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:05,800 Speaker 1: machine today. Okay, I said at the top of the 190 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:08,800 Speaker 1: show that we don't have that much detail about the 191 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:11,800 Speaker 1: specifics of Mary Golder Ross's work because a lot of 192 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:15,200 Speaker 1: it was and still is classified, and that is why 193 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:19,920 Speaker 1: we keep saying things like almost certainly and likely and 194 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:22,439 Speaker 1: a lot of what we are about to say has 195 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:26,200 Speaker 1: been repeated across a lot of writing about Ross, but 196 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:31,120 Speaker 1: I haven't verified it with official documents from Lockheed or anything. 197 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:33,880 Speaker 1: But one of the things she said to have worked 198 00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:36,840 Speaker 1: on during World War Two was the P thirty eight Lightning. 199 00:12:37,679 --> 00:12:40,440 Speaker 1: This was a twin boom aircraft, so it had the 200 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:44,640 Speaker 1: main central fuselage and wings, and then it had these 201 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: two auxiliary structures or booms that stretched back from the 202 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:52,240 Speaker 1: wings to the tail assembly. Each of these booms had 203 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:54,800 Speaker 1: its own engine, and the P thirty eight had four 204 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:59,080 Speaker 1: machine guns and a twenty millimeter cannon. All together, this 205 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:03,800 Speaker 1: created a very fast, maneuverable and powerful aircraft. It was 206 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:09,319 Speaker 1: described with terms like two planes. One pilot Germans allegedly 207 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:13,880 Speaker 1: called it Dirk gobbleschfund Teufel, or the fork tailed devil. 208 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:17,960 Speaker 1: The P thirty eight was propeller driven, and today's jet 209 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:21,360 Speaker 1: engines are much much faster, but at the time it 210 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:24,800 Speaker 1: set records reaching speeds of more than four hundred miles 211 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:29,160 Speaker 1: an hour. Early models had some issues though At those 212 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:32,319 Speaker 1: high speeds, the tail could become unstable and it had 213 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:36,480 Speaker 1: the potential to stall in steep dives. These issues could 214 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:39,600 Speaker 1: cause the pilot to lose control and even crash, and 215 00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:43,000 Speaker 1: one of Ross's projects at Lockheed was helping to fix 216 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:46,880 Speaker 1: those problems. After the war was over, a lot of 217 00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:50,439 Speaker 1: the women who had moved into jobs that had previously 218 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:53,400 Speaker 1: been held by men were forced back out of this 219 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:57,599 Speaker 1: part of the workforce, but Ross continued working at Lockheed, 220 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:00,840 Speaker 1: and Lockheed also sent her to the University of California, 221 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:04,680 Speaker 1: Los Angeles Extension School to continue her education and to 222 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:08,080 Speaker 1: train her to be an engineer. So this suggests that 223 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:12,640 Speaker 1: Lockheed saw her as a highly valuable employee. She studied 224 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 1: mathematics as it related to engineering, as well as aeronautics, 225 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:21,359 Speaker 1: missile mechanics, and celestial mechanics. She became a registered professional 226 00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:24,840 Speaker 1: engineer in nineteen forty nine, making her the first known 227 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:30,160 Speaker 1: Indigenous woman to become an engineer. The specification of aerospace 228 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:33,440 Speaker 1: engineer did not really exist yet, but that is what 229 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:37,920 Speaker 1: her studies really added up to. Earlier, we talked about 230 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:42,320 Speaker 1: education being important to the Cherokee, and that included making 231 00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:46,320 Speaker 1: sure children had access to education regardless of their gender. 232 00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 1: But when Ross moved into advanced studies in engineering and maths, 233 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:54,200 Speaker 1: she was often the only woman in the room. In 234 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:57,040 Speaker 1: interviews later on in her life, she talked about feeling 235 00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:00,000 Speaker 1: like the men didn't want to associate with her at all. 236 00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:02,920 Speaker 1: She'd sit on one side of the room and they 237 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:05,480 Speaker 1: would sit on the other. But she said she was 238 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 1: able to hold her own with them, and sometimes she 239 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:10,560 Speaker 1: could do them one better. But she didn't want the 240 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 1: fields of engineering and math to stay this way. She 241 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:18,040 Speaker 1: started advocating for more women to become engineers and mathematicians 242 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:20,440 Speaker 1: and for these fields to be more open to women, 243 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:23,720 Speaker 1: and this included becoming a charter member of the Los 244 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:27,400 Speaker 1: Angeles chapter of the Society of Women Engineers in nineteen 245 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:31,200 Speaker 1: fifty two. By that point, she bought a house in 246 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:34,520 Speaker 1: low South Host, California. She made this purchase in nineteen 247 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:36,720 Speaker 1: fifty one and she lived in this house for the 248 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:39,800 Speaker 1: rest of her life. It had an apricot tree in 249 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:42,800 Speaker 1: the backyard, and every year she would make sulfur's dried 250 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 1: apricots and give them to friends and family as gifts. 251 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:49,680 Speaker 1: The sulfur in this extends the shelf life of the 252 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:53,760 Speaker 1: apricots and it helps keep them soft and interviews later on, 253 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:56,240 Speaker 1: a family member also said that she had a fig 254 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:59,840 Speaker 1: tree and gave figs as gifts. She was also fond 255 00:15:59,880 --> 00:16:04,120 Speaker 1: of painting in her spare time. Ross's home purchase was 256 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:07,320 Speaker 1: connected to her job. She had been transferred to the 257 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:11,479 Speaker 1: newly established Lockheed Missiles and Space Company, which was headquartered 258 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:15,960 Speaker 1: at Lockheed's Sunnyvale campus. A number of articles about her 259 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:18,120 Speaker 1: also say that this was when she became part of 260 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:22,680 Speaker 1: Lockheed's Advanced Development Projects, or skunk Works, and that she 261 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:26,440 Speaker 1: was the only woman on an elite team of forty engineers. 262 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:31,320 Speaker 1: The name Skunkworks reportedly comes from the Lil Abner comic strip, 263 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: where the Skunkworks spelled with an O instead of a U. 264 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:38,720 Speaker 1: Was a foul smelling, run down factory on the outskirts 265 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:42,080 Speaker 1: of the town of dog Patch. Reportedly, one of the 266 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:45,840 Speaker 1: Lockheed facilities was next to a plastics factory, and it 267 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:49,360 Speaker 1: smelled very bad. This is something else that's tricky to 268 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:53,520 Speaker 1: pin down. Though the skunk Works division's whole purpose is 269 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:58,840 Speaker 1: to work on highly secretive and classified projects. Eventually, the 270 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:03,680 Speaker 1: finished prize can become public knowledge, because I can't just 271 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:08,080 Speaker 1: and definitely hide the existence of something like the US 272 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:12,679 Speaker 1: military's first jet fighter, but the details of the development 273 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 1: process and who worked on what can still really be 274 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:19,080 Speaker 1: a secret, and so can some of the specifics of 275 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:23,800 Speaker 1: those finished products. This was alluded to when Ross made 276 00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:26,399 Speaker 1: an appearance on the game show What's My Line on 277 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:30,080 Speaker 1: June twenty second, nineteen fifty eight. So on the show 278 00:17:30,119 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 1: What's My Line, panelists had to ask yes or no 279 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:36,080 Speaker 1: questions to try to figure out the occupation of a guest. 280 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:41,800 Speaker 1: Ross's occupation was described on screen as designs rocket missiles 281 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:47,600 Speaker 1: and satellites, and then in parentheses Lockheed Aircraft. After panelist 282 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:51,560 Speaker 1: Dorothy Kilgallen correctly guessed that Ross's job was related to 283 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:55,320 Speaker 1: designing missiles, she asked a follow up question about how 284 00:17:55,359 --> 00:17:58,640 Speaker 1: big the missiles were, since an earlier question had been 285 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:01,480 Speaker 1: whether the product Ross Wren was bigger than a tank. 286 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:06,720 Speaker 1: Moderator John Charles Daily shut down this conversation by saying, quote, 287 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:10,120 Speaker 1: miss Ross isn't free to discuss anything about it. She's 288 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:13,440 Speaker 1: in advanced designs now and can't talk about what she's 289 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:18,320 Speaker 1: working on. So here are some things. Various articles have 290 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:21,760 Speaker 1: said that Mary Golder Ross worked on while working at 291 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:26,719 Speaker 1: Lockheed Martin after the war, rockets that carried either payloads 292 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:30,720 Speaker 1: or human beings, The study of water pressure and ocean 293 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:33,919 Speaker 1: waves and how those would affect vehicles and missiles that 294 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:39,160 Speaker 1: were launched from submarines, the orbital dynamics of the Aegina rocket, 295 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:43,560 Speaker 1: which was used as part of NASA's Gemini program. Submarine 296 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:49,040 Speaker 1: launched ballistic missiles, including the Polaris and Trident missiles. She 297 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:54,440 Speaker 1: was definitely a contributor to NASA's Interplanetary Flight Handbook Volume three, 298 00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:59,040 Speaker 1: which was published in nineteen sixty three that included maps, graphs, 299 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 1: and tables to be used in interplanetary missions to Mars 300 00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:06,919 Speaker 1: and Venus. Various sources have quoted her as saying that 301 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:10,000 Speaker 1: she wanted to be the woman behind the first woman 302 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:14,640 Speaker 1: in space. In twenty twenty three, Mary Golder Ross's relative, 303 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:18,399 Speaker 1: Gail Ross, gave an interview with PBS News Weekend in 304 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:22,400 Speaker 1: which she said that if so much of Mary's work 305 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:26,639 Speaker 1: had not been classified, she would have earned a Nobel Prize. 306 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:30,680 Speaker 1: Gail Ross also said similar things in other interviews, and 307 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:35,359 Speaker 1: an also similar sentiment has been attributed to doctor Norbert Hill, 308 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:38,679 Speaker 1: who was one of Ross's friends and colleagues and was 309 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:42,760 Speaker 1: the former executive director of the American Indian Science and 310 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:48,760 Speaker 1: Engineering Society, when he said this. Other people who worked 311 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:52,480 Speaker 1: with and were mentored by Mary Golder Ross also described 312 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:55,679 Speaker 1: her as being of the same caliber as the Nobel 313 00:19:55,800 --> 00:20:00,800 Speaker 1: laureates they had similarly worked with. Mary golderos USh retired 314 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:04,040 Speaker 1: from Lockheed in nineteen seventy three, and we'll get to 315 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:06,840 Speaker 1: how she spent her life after her retirement after we 316 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:19,840 Speaker 1: paused for a sponsor break. Even without knowing the details 317 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:23,359 Speaker 1: of Mary Golder Ross's work at Lockheed Martin, it is 318 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:27,320 Speaker 1: clear that she was brilliant as a mathematician and an engineer, 319 00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:30,879 Speaker 1: and that her work there was important to the US 320 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:37,320 Speaker 1: aerospace industry, spanning military applications and space exploration. After she 321 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:41,000 Speaker 1: retired from Lockheed, she stayed in Los Altos, California, and 322 00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:43,800 Speaker 1: she did a lot of work trying to open doors 323 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:46,760 Speaker 1: for women and Indigenous people in the fields she had 324 00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:50,800 Speaker 1: spent her whole career working in. In nineteen seventy seven, 325 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:54,440 Speaker 1: she became a founding member of the American Indian Science 326 00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:59,680 Speaker 1: and Engineering Society. This organization wanted to increase college enrollment 327 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:03,800 Speaker 1: and grew graduation rates for Indigenous students. We said earlier 328 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:06,359 Speaker 1: that Ross was the first Indigenous woman known to become 329 00:21:06,359 --> 00:21:09,359 Speaker 1: an engineer in the US, and by the nineteen seventies, 330 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:13,840 Speaker 1: women and Indigenous people were still extremely underrepresented in the 331 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:18,480 Speaker 1: sciences and engineering, so another goal was addressing this disparity 332 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:22,560 Speaker 1: and making these fields more accessible to women and Indigenous people. 333 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:28,240 Speaker 1: This organization exists today as ACES that is spelled AISES 334 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:32,119 Speaker 1: that's a nonprofit that works to provide academic, professional, and 335 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:35,840 Speaker 1: cultural support to Indigenous people from North America and the 336 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:39,919 Speaker 1: Pacific Islands who are preparing for careers in stem fields. 337 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:45,240 Speaker 1: Ross also participated in the Council of Energy Resource Tribes, 338 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:49,280 Speaker 1: which was established in the nineteen seventies as well. This 339 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:53,720 Speaker 1: was an intertribal organization of Indigenous nations that had valuable 340 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:58,199 Speaker 1: energy related resources on their lands, so things like uranium, 341 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:02,560 Speaker 1: natural gas, and oil. This council worked to help Indigenous 342 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:08,240 Speaker 1: nations protect these resources from exploitation and protect themselves from exploitation. 343 00:22:08,359 --> 00:22:12,080 Speaker 1: Really with a focus on retaining their rights and resisting 344 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:17,080 Speaker 1: encroachment by non indigenous people and business interests, and on sustainability. 345 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:21,280 Speaker 1: The council also worked to improve the relationship between the 346 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:25,800 Speaker 1: federal government and Indigenous nations when it came to these resources. 347 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:29,760 Speaker 1: In nineteen ninety two, Ross was inducted into the Silicon 348 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:33,960 Speaker 1: Valley Engineering Council Hall of fame. In two thousand and one, 349 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:37,920 Speaker 1: sculptor Lawrence F. Kenny created a sculpture of her using 350 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:42,600 Speaker 1: steam bent wood panels made from white oak. In addition 351 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:45,919 Speaker 1: to a photorealistic image of her face, the panels include 352 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:48,600 Speaker 1: a number of references to her life and her work 353 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:52,040 Speaker 1: as a mathematician and engineer. This was part of a 354 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:55,360 Speaker 1: commemoration of the centennial of the nineteen oh one Pan 355 00:22:55,400 --> 00:23:00,359 Speaker 1: American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. In nineteen eighty nine, 356 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:04,399 Speaker 1: Congress passed legislation to establish the National Museum of the 357 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:08,920 Speaker 1: American Indian within the Smithsonian Institution, which was signed into 358 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:12,840 Speaker 1: law by President George H. W. Bush. We talked about 359 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:15,560 Speaker 1: this a little bit last year in our episode on 360 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:21,080 Speaker 1: George Gustav High, whose collection became part of this museum. 361 00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:25,640 Speaker 1: Ross was a huge supporter of this museum. She said 362 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:28,760 Speaker 1: that it would tell the quote true story of the Indian, 363 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:32,680 Speaker 1: not just the story of the past, but an ongoing story. 364 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:37,400 Speaker 1: Her support included bequeathing more than four hundred thousand dollars 365 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:41,040 Speaker 1: to the museum's endowment in her will. When the museum 366 00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:43,920 Speaker 1: opened in two thousand and four, Ross was ninety six, 367 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:47,119 Speaker 1: and she attended the opening ceremonies in a dress that 368 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:50,199 Speaker 1: her niece had made for her. This dress was in 369 00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:53,720 Speaker 1: the design of a traditional Cherokee tear dress, which Ross 370 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:57,160 Speaker 1: had never worn before. The tear dress has its own 371 00:23:57,280 --> 00:24:01,040 Speaker 1: history and connections to the Cherokee Nations real establishing itself 372 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:05,679 Speaker 1: as a nation. Earlier, we talked about indigenous governments and 373 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:10,399 Speaker 1: institutions being dissolved during the allotment and assimilation phase of 374 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:15,560 Speaker 1: federal policy toward indigenous people. The Indian Reorganization Act of 375 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:20,959 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty four had encouraged indigenous nations to reform those governments. 376 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:24,720 Speaker 1: The Cherokee Nation met to elect a new Principal Chief 377 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:27,160 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty eight, and then that was confirmed by 378 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:31,520 Speaker 1: President Franklin Roosevelt in nineteen forty one. Then, in the 379 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:35,679 Speaker 1: late nineteen sixties, Virginia Alice Stroud, enrolled citizen of the 380 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:40,440 Speaker 1: United Catuah Band of Cherokee Indians, was participating in pageants 381 00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:45,320 Speaker 1: for indigenous women. Shelish crowned Miss Cherokee Tribal Princess in 382 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:49,280 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty nine and Miss National Congress of American Indians 383 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:53,720 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy and then Miss Indian America in nineteen 384 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:59,240 Speaker 1: seventy one. Elements of these pageants included contestants knowledge about 385 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:03,120 Speaker 1: their tribes and wearing of traditional dress, but the Cherokee 386 00:25:03,119 --> 00:25:06,479 Speaker 1: tribes living in Oklahoma didn't have a specific style of 387 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:11,080 Speaker 1: traditional dress. Before the arrival of Europeans in the Americas, 388 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:15,239 Speaker 1: their clothing hadn't evolved into a culturally specific style, and 389 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:18,359 Speaker 1: once they were introduced to trade goods from Europe, many 390 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:23,280 Speaker 1: had adopted European style clothing. So contestants in these pageants 391 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:27,360 Speaker 1: often wore buckskin garments that were associated with other tribes 392 00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:30,440 Speaker 1: and nations, which could be true of contestants from other 393 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:33,720 Speaker 1: tribes as well. So a lot of people in Oklahoma 394 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:37,879 Speaker 1: increasingly felt this was inappropriate, so Principal Chief W. W. 395 00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:41,680 Speaker 1: Keeler of the Cherokee Nation appointed a committee of Cherokee 396 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:46,159 Speaker 1: women to develop a culturally appropriate dress that had roots 397 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:49,560 Speaker 1: in the Cherokee homeland of what's now North Carolina, Georgia, 398 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:55,439 Speaker 1: or Tennessee. After extensive research, their starting point became a 399 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:59,360 Speaker 1: nineteenth century dress that was a family heirloom and had 400 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:03,040 Speaker 1: belonged to to a committee member's grandmother or great grandmother. 401 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:06,359 Speaker 1: With the exception of the neck opening, all of The 402 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:10,359 Speaker 1: pieces of a tear dress are squares and rectangles. These 403 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 1: aren't cut. They're typically created by making a notch in 404 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:16,600 Speaker 1: the salvage edge of the cloth and then tearing it 405 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:19,760 Speaker 1: to the other side to make a perfect square. The 406 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:22,760 Speaker 1: seams where some of these pieces fit together are gathered, 407 00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:25,840 Speaker 1: creating a stand up ruffle that sits on the outside 408 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:29,320 Speaker 1: of the dress. There are decorative bands at each shoulder, 409 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:31,800 Speaker 1: around each sleeve, and around the upper part of the 410 00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:35,399 Speaker 1: skirt just above a flounce. It's a practical dress that 411 00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:38,080 Speaker 1: a person could work in with buttons up to front 412 00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:42,080 Speaker 1: to also make it easy to breastfeed children. Tear dresses 413 00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:46,280 Speaker 1: for children normally button up the back. Yeah, it would 414 00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:48,800 Speaker 1: make sense if the name tear dress comes from this 415 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:52,879 Speaker 1: tearing to create the square and rectangular pieces. But a 416 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:54,679 Speaker 1: couple of the sources that I read about this that 417 00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:57,040 Speaker 1: we don't actually know, like who started calling it that 418 00:26:57,240 --> 00:26:59,920 Speaker 1: or where they got the name from. In a day 419 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:04,040 Speaker 1: to being warned by Virginia Alice Stroud in a pageant context, 420 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:08,520 Speaker 1: this dress became increasingly associated with the Cherokee in Oklahoma 421 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:12,160 Speaker 1: by being recreated as costumes for the Trail of Tears 422 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:16,439 Speaker 1: outdoor drama that was staged for the first time in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, 423 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:20,960 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty nine. Today, this dress is recognized as 424 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:25,760 Speaker 1: women's traditional dress by the Cherokee in Oklahoma. There's a 425 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:28,600 Speaker 1: video with a lot more detail about this on the 426 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:31,920 Speaker 1: Cherokee Nations YouTube page. This is in a talk by 427 00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:36,119 Speaker 1: Tanya Hogner Weavel who has the designation of Cherokee National 428 00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:40,399 Speaker 1: Treasure and is Education director at the Cherokee Heritage Center. 429 00:27:41,359 --> 00:27:44,840 Speaker 1: Mary Golda Ross's dress was green with darker green and 430 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:48,600 Speaker 1: a pattern of stars on the decorative bands. Her dress 431 00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:50,919 Speaker 1: had these bands at the shoulders and around the skirt, 432 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:54,080 Speaker 1: but not on the sleeves. She also wore it with 433 00:27:54,119 --> 00:27:56,720 Speaker 1: a belt at the waist. When she wore it to 434 00:27:56,760 --> 00:27:59,399 Speaker 1: the opening of the Museum of the American Indian It 435 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:02,720 Speaker 1: was part of a three day First Americans festival attended 436 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:06,760 Speaker 1: by twenty thousand Indigenous people from all over the Americas, 437 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:11,000 Speaker 1: including a procession down the National Mall to the museum's entrance. 438 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:14,919 Speaker 1: Mary Golder Ross died on April twenty ninth, two thousand 439 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:18,000 Speaker 1: and eight. A public celebration of her life was held 440 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:22,760 Speaker 1: at the Cherokee Tribal Council Chambers in Tahaquah. The tribal 441 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:25,640 Speaker 1: council had been planning to honor her on her one 442 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:28,639 Speaker 1: hundredth birthday, but she died a few months before that 443 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:32,280 Speaker 1: at the age of ninety nine. Her ashes were interred 444 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:35,520 Speaker 1: at Ross Cemetery in park Hill, which is also the 445 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:38,440 Speaker 1: burial place of many of her other family members, including 446 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:42,280 Speaker 1: John Ross. Her grave marker has her name and the 447 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:44,880 Speaker 1: dates of her birth and death, and the words she 448 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:49,680 Speaker 1: reached for the stars. Wilma Mankiller, who was principal Chief 449 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:52,520 Speaker 1: of the Cherokee Nation from nineteen eighty five to nineteen 450 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:55,840 Speaker 1: ninety five, is quoted as saying of Mary, quote, There's 451 00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:59,680 Speaker 1: no woman I've ever met who is more intelligent, more compassionate, 452 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:02,800 Speaker 1: and just a great lady. I still have an image 453 00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:05,520 Speaker 1: of Mary leaning down to listen to young students who 454 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:08,120 Speaker 1: had the hope of a career in math and science. 455 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:11,800 Speaker 1: She was an optimist who saw the unlimited boundaries of 456 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:16,120 Speaker 1: the human potential. Mankiller also said quote Mary made us 457 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:19,360 Speaker 1: all so proud to be Cherokee. When we came into 458 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:21,640 Speaker 1: a room or we're at an event with her, we 459 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:26,680 Speaker 1: all stood a little prouder in her presence. You're getting 460 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:30,600 Speaker 1: choked up, got me choked on? Sorry. In two thousand 461 00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:34,080 Speaker 1: and one, Ross was depicted in a painting titled at 462 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:37,520 Speaker 1: Astra per astra, meaning to the stars from the stars, 463 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:42,040 Speaker 1: by Cherokee artist America Meredith. This title is a play 464 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:46,120 Speaker 1: on the Latin phrase per aspera ad astra, or through 465 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:49,080 Speaker 1: hardships to the stars, which is a motto that's used 466 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:53,240 Speaker 1: a lot. This artwork depicts Ross in a red dress, 467 00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:56,600 Speaker 1: wearing pearl earrings and a string of pearls around her neck, 468 00:29:57,280 --> 00:30:00,000 Speaker 1: all of which she is shown wearing in various fees 469 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:03,200 Speaker 1: photos of her from her life. She's standing next to 470 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:06,160 Speaker 1: a body of still water, and that water reflects the 471 00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:10,080 Speaker 1: landscape around it and the starry night above, and there's 472 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:13,480 Speaker 1: an rm et one agina rocket in the sky. This 473 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:18,240 Speaker 1: painting incorporates elements of Cherokee cosmology relating to the Pleiades, 474 00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:22,120 Speaker 1: and there's also a seven pointed star symbolizing the seven 475 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:26,480 Speaker 1: clans of the Cherokee, and text in the Cherokee language. 476 00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:30,080 Speaker 1: In May of twenty eighteen, the Oklahoma City School Board 477 00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:35,400 Speaker 1: renamed Jackson Enterprise Elementary School to Marry Golder Ross Middle School. 478 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:38,640 Speaker 1: On August ninth of that year, in commemoration of her 479 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:41,200 Speaker 1: one hundred and tenth birthday, she was honored with a 480 00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:45,240 Speaker 1: Google doodle. In June of twenty nineteen, the US Mint 481 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:49,960 Speaker 1: issued a Native American one dollar coin featuring Mary Golda Ross. 482 00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:53,400 Speaker 1: On the reverse side, she's holding paper and a slide rule, 483 00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:56,880 Speaker 1: and there is also an astronaut and an Atlas Agena 484 00:30:56,960 --> 00:31:01,760 Speaker 1: rocket taking off, and an equation repenting her work. This 485 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:04,640 Speaker 1: coin was meant to honor not just her, but all 486 00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:08,920 Speaker 1: Indigenous people's contributions to the space program, including those of 487 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:14,040 Speaker 1: Chickasaw astronaut John Harrington and Osage and Cherokee flight controller 488 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:18,320 Speaker 1: Jerry c Elliot high Eagle. Jerry c Elliot high Eagle 489 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:22,160 Speaker 1: was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for computing the 490 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:26,440 Speaker 1: trajectory that enabled the astronauts aboard Apollo thirteen to return 491 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:31,600 Speaker 1: safely to Earth. The astronaut on this coin is outfitted 492 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:34,960 Speaker 1: in a way that Harrington would have been for spacewalks 493 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:38,560 Speaker 1: that he undertook while serving on the International Space Station. 494 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:44,200 Speaker 1: Because so much of Ross's work is still classified, designers 495 00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:46,360 Speaker 1: had to work with a NASA engineer to figure out 496 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:49,840 Speaker 1: an equation that would make sense to include the one 497 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:54,920 Speaker 1: that's shown is connected to interplanetary space travel involving gravity, distance, 498 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:58,640 Speaker 1: and speed of an orbiting body. I really love that. 499 00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:01,000 Speaker 1: They were like, we need an equation to go on here. 500 00:32:01,640 --> 00:32:04,320 Speaker 1: We need a science grown up. Yeah, we know so 501 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:06,200 Speaker 1: little about her exact work that we need you to 502 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:11,880 Speaker 1: help us come up with one that's appropriate. In April 503 00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:15,240 Speaker 1: of twenty twenty two, a statue of Mary Golda Ross 504 00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:18,960 Speaker 1: was unveiled at the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City. 505 00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:22,240 Speaker 1: This is a life size statue and she is holding 506 00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:24,720 Speaker 1: a model of an Atlas, a Gina rocket, and a 507 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:28,040 Speaker 1: slide rule wrapped in a scroll. There is a quote 508 00:32:28,080 --> 00:32:30,600 Speaker 1: by her on the base which is we are taking 509 00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:34,440 Speaker 1: the theoretical and making it real. She was also inducted 510 00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:39,800 Speaker 1: into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in twenty twenty three. 511 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:43,240 Speaker 1: I think she sounds so interesting and we'll talk more 512 00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:45,600 Speaker 1: on Friday with the behind the scenes. I suppose do 513 00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:49,200 Speaker 1: you have listener mail I do? This is from Cynthia. 514 00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:52,360 Speaker 1: It's a correction. Cynthia wrote and said, Hi, Holly and Tracy. 515 00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:54,920 Speaker 1: I'm a longtime listener and look forward to your podcast 516 00:32:55,040 --> 00:32:57,840 Speaker 1: every evening. It gets me through my least favorite chore 517 00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:03,520 Speaker 1: of all time, making one just for my kids, followed 518 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:08,480 Speaker 1: by the sideways a colon in parentheses smiley face. Tonight, 519 00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:11,480 Speaker 1: I listened to your episode regarding ghost Towns. I heard 520 00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:14,840 Speaker 1: a small error. You mentioned the Church of Jesus Christ 521 00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:17,560 Speaker 1: of Latter day Saints founder Joseph Smith served an eight 522 00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:21,240 Speaker 1: month mission to Hawaii in eighteen sixty four. Founder Joseph 523 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:24,640 Speaker 1: Smith was actually martyred in eighteen forty four. It was 524 00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:28,800 Speaker 1: his nephew, Joseph F. Smith, Hiram's son, who served a 525 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:32,240 Speaker 1: mission in Hawaii. It is an easy mistake, as they 526 00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:34,840 Speaker 1: both have the same name. Mostly, I'm just sending the 527 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:36,959 Speaker 1: correction because I've always wanted a reason to write in 528 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:39,440 Speaker 1: and say how much I enjoy and appreciate you. Since 529 00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:43,120 Speaker 1: I'm here, I would love to request an episode on 530 00:33:43,120 --> 00:33:46,840 Speaker 1: the origins of the International Phonetic Alphabet. As a choir teacher, 531 00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:48,880 Speaker 1: this is something I use on a regular basis, and 532 00:33:48,920 --> 00:33:51,560 Speaker 1: I'm curious as to how it came to be. I 533 00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:53,960 Speaker 1: have no current pets because my husband can't have them 534 00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:56,200 Speaker 1: in the house, but I'll send a few animal pictures 535 00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:58,600 Speaker 1: from some of the forty three national parks we have 536 00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:04,360 Speaker 1: visited in the last few years, and then got a 537 00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:07,120 Speaker 1: follow up saying, hi forgot to add my name on 538 00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:09,080 Speaker 1: the email I just sent me. Probably got it from 539 00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:13,080 Speaker 1: my email address anyway, thanks again, Cynthia. I sure did 540 00:34:13,160 --> 00:34:16,280 Speaker 1: mess that up, but I had also in a different 541 00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:21,000 Speaker 1: part of the episode. I had realized that I had 542 00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:23,200 Speaker 1: messed it up related to something else and that it 543 00:34:23,239 --> 00:34:26,440 Speaker 1: would be confusing. So I just took that confusing part 544 00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:28,919 Speaker 1: out because it was kind of an aside. It wasn't 545 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:31,560 Speaker 1: actually related to what we were talking about, while the 546 00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:36,239 Speaker 1: missions to Hawaii were related, so I should have caught that. 547 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:39,960 Speaker 1: I'm very sorry, thank you for sending that note to us. 548 00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:42,880 Speaker 1: And then boy, we have some very cute animal pictures. 549 00:34:43,480 --> 00:34:47,520 Speaker 1: One of them is a horse with just a stunning 550 00:34:47,719 --> 00:34:51,280 Speaker 1: desert and I think kind of butte background in the 551 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:55,319 Speaker 1: background of it a mountain goat. I love that too. 552 00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:59,399 Speaker 1: It has only been within the last I would say 553 00:34:59,440 --> 00:35:02,120 Speaker 1: five years of my adult life that I have actually 554 00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:06,680 Speaker 1: seen a mountain goat doing the thing that they do 555 00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:11,200 Speaker 1: on the near vertical rock faces. I've seen, you know, 556 00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:13,239 Speaker 1: pictures of that, but I was at a zoom and 557 00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:15,960 Speaker 1: was like wow, I did not realize that it was 558 00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:20,360 Speaker 1: quite that dramatic. So I love these animal pictures anybody. 559 00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:22,640 Speaker 1: I'm not sure what the first picture is of. It 560 00:35:22,680 --> 00:35:25,800 Speaker 1: looks like it could be maybe a marmots or maybe 561 00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:28,840 Speaker 1: a badger. It is, it would be easier if I 562 00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:34,239 Speaker 1: could see what the animal's tale looked like. Anyway, Thank 563 00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:37,760 Speaker 1: you so much since Cynthia for that note and these pictures. 564 00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:40,279 Speaker 1: As I just said, if you would like to send 565 00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:42,239 Speaker 1: us a note about this or any other podcast or 566 00:35:42,239 --> 00:35:45,680 Speaker 1: at history podcasts at iHeartRadio dot com, and you can 567 00:35:45,719 --> 00:35:48,799 Speaker 1: subscribe to the show on iHeartRadio app and anywhere else 568 00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:56,680 Speaker 1: you like to get your podcasts. Stuff you missed in 569 00:35:56,760 --> 00:35:59,879 Speaker 1: History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more pot 570 00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:04,200 Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 571 00:36:04,239 --> 00:36:06,200 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.