Duchess Harris, JD, Phd NASA in the 1960S

Hidden Human Computers: The Black Women of NASA Duchess Harris, JD, PhD NASA in the 1960s Hidden Figures Trailer Miriam Daniel Mann NASA Langley Tour of NASA NASA Archives Chesterville Plantation Chesterville Plantation (aka NASA Langley) • NASA purchased Chesterville Plantation (originally owned by the Wythe family) in 1950 Image: Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff. June 1972. “National R 6-12th graders ◼ Black women did computations before machines could: it was a job requiring long periods of intense focus. ◼ Even though Black women’s contributions as human computers were devalued, it was essential to scientific enterprise. Human Computers Women as Human Computers ◼ White women move into field two decades after the civil war. ◼ By early 1900s, most computers were white women because companies could pay them less. ◼ Black women are not hired until World War II (1939-1945). How do Black women become Human Computers? Historically Black Colleges ◼ Before the civil war, educating slaves was illegal. ◼ Only three Black colleges in the U.S. ▪ Cheyney University of Pennsylvania (1837) ▪ Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) (1854) ▪ Wilberforce University (1856) Hampton(ti(title) University t ◼ 1865: Freedmen’s Bureau established. ◼ New Black schools, such as the Hampton Normal and Educational Institute (graduated Booker T. Washington), were developed. ◼ Number of Blacks entering the sciences slowly rose, but most are men. Black Women(ti(title) int Science ◼ Black women commonly studied teaching, law, and medicine instead of pursuing careers in science. ◼ Silon Yates was appointed to Head the Department of Natural Sciences in 1888 at Lincoln University in PA. Flight and Fight NACA National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics President Woodrow Wilson establishes NACA in 1915 to Develop Aircraft. A worker is busy building a wind tunnel at Langley. Another War, More Opportunities ◼ Role of women computers even more important during World War II. ◼ President Roosevelt signs Executive Order 8802 to allow African Americans to work in all new areas. Separate, But Not Equal ◼ Additional requirements: Chemistry courses at Hampton Institute. ◼ “West Area Computing” ◼ Male junior engineers earned $2600 per year. Black women did the same work and only made $1440 per year. Segregation The NASA diagram shows the segregated cafeteria where the West Computers ate. They ate in the colored dining room, separated from the white dining room by the kitchen. Challenging the Space Race The Space Race ◼ Soviet Union launches Sputnik October 4, 1957. ◼ NACA becomes NASA in 1958. ◼ National Defense Education Act passed in1958. NACA’s Secret ◼ Annie Easley, the only Black woman working alongside five women, was cropped out of a photograph representing NACA’s computers. Annie Easley played an important part at NACA and NASA, but was treated differently due to her gender and skin color. HIDDEN NO MORE Annie Easley ◼ Jobs of human computers shifted to programming. Computers learned FORTRAN and taught it to the engineers. NASA and the Civil Rights Movement §In 1954, when Jim Crow laws in the South meant blacks had pay a poll tax and take a literacy test to vote, Annie Easley took it upon herself to teach other African-Americans how to pass it. §Later at NASA, she also worked as an Equal Employment Opportunity counselor, where she educated supervisors about workplace discrimination on not just race and gender, but age as well. Race, Place, and Outerspace ▪ NASA works to recruit more Black women and people from other underrepresented groups. ▪ As part of NASA’s recruiting process, actress Nichelle Nichols from the original Star Trek, travels to universities with strong science and engineer programs to recruit students. The first curriculum in the Nation Visit the Human Computers of NASA Project at Macalester College: http://omeka.macalester.edu/humancomputerproject/timeline A Living History Inspiration for a new Generation .

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