was done through Great Britain's Royal Navy all the computers were men NAVIGATING BY THE STARS AND PLANETS When human computing was used to create a navigational almanac in Ship captains relied on the stars and planets to navigate using a technique known as celestial navigation They used the North Star most often In the Northern Hemisphere it is always to the north hanging above the North Pole Navigators could also use the planets to navigate but the position of other planets in relation to Earth changes This is because every planet in the solar system orbits the sun but each does so at different rates Navigating by planets required complex mathematical tables constructed by astronomers and human computers the United States women again joined the ranks crunching numbers and solving problems Still these women were white Black women such as Easley did not work as computers for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics NACA which later became NASA until World War II 1939 1945 Swept under the Rug Before World War II job choices for educated black women were limited to nursing and teaching Because of this many women interested in math decided to teach it to others It was not until World War II that NACA hired black female mathematicians including Easley Katherine Johnson and Kathryn Peddrew NASA continued to hire
black women mathematicians in the 1950s and beyond For example Christine Darden joined the government agency in 1967 Until recently few people other than their You can be anything you want to It doesn't matter families remembered the what you look like what your size is what your color is You work these women did for can be anything you want NACA and NASA Their to but you do have to work at it accomplishments remained Annie Easley's mother to hidden from sight because Annie Easley they faced two layers of discrimination as both women and as blacks Much like the many black women who worked for civil rights these black computers were pushed into the background and forgotten Despite such discrimination these black women graduated with degrees in mathematics at a time when many people thought the field was inappropriate for white women let alone for black women In the face of widespread prejudice and legalized discrimination the black women who worked as NACA and NASA computers succeeded because other people inspired them Easley's mother encouraged her to follow her dreams Johnson's father was a math whiz Darden fell in love with math when she was in high school and studied it throughout
NASA S COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY college where a professor helped her find a job as a college research assistant in physics Thanks to the opportunities NASA provided more than On February 6 2015 Charles F Bolden Jr administrator of NASA published the NASA Policy Statement of Equal Employment Opportunity It reads in part NASA provides an environment that honors integrity excellence teamwork fairness and equity This means NASA wants to be an honest high quality workspace that encourages people to work together and treat each other as equals To ensure this happens NASA has the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity This office enforces fair practices and discourages anything that might make workers feel bullied or discriminated against NASA believes this is the best practice for a workplace that wants to give employees the opportunity to make new discoveries 400 women both black and white found something they were good at and wanted to do They did not listen when people said math was not for them and that no one like them had done these jobs before They overcame many obstacles and stand as inspirations for today's mathematical girls
The black women who worked as computers for NACA and then NASA including Mary Jackson front row right serve as role models for girls who like math and the sciences
