Mary Jackson

Born on 9 April 1921 in Hampton, Virginia, Mary Jackson was the first African American woman engineer at NASA. After graduating from Hampton Institute in 1942 with degrees in math and physical science, Jackson worked a series of jobs, including teacher, bookkeeper, and secretary. In 1951 she was recruited as a research mathematician, or human computer , by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, which became NASA in 1958. At Langley Research Center in Hampton, Jackson went to work in the segregated West Area Computing section, which was supervised by fellow African American Dorothy Vaughan. Two years later, Jackson was offered a job working for engineer Kazimierz Czarnecki, conducting experiments in a high-speed wind tunnel. She then attended a training program to become an engineer herself. Although the courses were held in a segregated high school, Jackson obtained permission to attend; she completed the program and was promoted to engineer in 1958. Over the next two decades, she worked for several NASA divisions, authoring or coauthoring a dozen technical reports. She specialized in the study of air flow, including thrust and drag forces. In 1979 Jackson decided to leave engineering and become a human resources administrator at Langley. She served as manager of both the Federal Women’s Program in the Office of Equal Opportunity Programs and the Affirmative Action Program, working to advance the careers of women and other minorities in the fields of science, engineering, and mathematics at NASA until she retired in 1985. Over her career she received a number of honors, including an Apollo Group Achievement Award. Jackson was one of three African American women featured in Margot Lee Shetterly’s 2016 book, Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race , which was also made into a film. Jackson died at age 83 in 2005. (Photo credit: NASA)

Date in History: 9 April 1921