Hidden Figures Part III - Mary Winston Jackson

World War II pushed many women into the workforce. Traditionally finding jobs as teachers and nurses, this war created opportunities few women considered possible.  

Shining a light on women of African descent during this period, these women encountered even greater challenges.  Integration of the military did not occur until President Harry Truman issued his executive order in 1948. Brown vs. the Board of Education, decided by the Supreme Court in 1954, declared segregated schools unconstitutional. President Kennedy led the charge to establish the Civil Rights Bill of 1963, which made clear that discrimination based upon race, color, religion, sex or national origin was illegal.  

Before any of these seminal decisions, women of African descent worked against the grain to take pivotal positions in the workforce.  Highlighting the accomplishments of a few incredibly intelligent women, Margot Lee Shetterly penned the book behind the movie Hidden Figures.  
The third woman upon whom she focuses is Mary Jackson.

Mary Jackson started at Langley on April 5, 1951.  She earned degrees in mathematics and physical science while at Hampton Institute.  

• Shortly after she began at Langley, she was sent to the East Side (staffed only by white women) to assist with a project.  This led to her meeting Kazimierz Czarnecki, an assistant section chief of the Four-by-Four Supersonic Pressure Tunnel, and to her eventual employment in that division.
•  Once employed by Czarnecki in his division, she was given an assignment by Compressibility Division Chief John Becker.  When he questioned her figures, she stood by them.  After going through the numbers, it became clear that her output figures were correct, but that his input figures were not.  This earned Mary a reputation as a smart mathematician who might contribute more than just calculations.  
• Mary Jackson co-authored a report with Czarnecki in 1958 entitled “Effects on Nose Angle and Mach Number on Transition Cones at Supersonic Speeds.”  
• Czarnecki recommended Mary seek an engineering degree.  Due to the lack of integration in Virginia, Mary was forced to apply for a dispensation to attend school to earn this degree. 
• Mary earned her engineering degree and subsequently earned the title of engineer at Langley.  

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For more information about Mary Jackson, see the following information posted at NASA: 
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/mary-jackson-at-nasa-langley-1​

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