Mary Jackson (née Winston, April 9, 1921 – February 11,
2005) was an African American mathematician and aerospace engineer at the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), which in 1958 was succeeded
by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). She worked at
Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, for most of her career. She
started as a computer at the segregated West Area Computing division in 1951.
She took advanced engineering classes and, in 1958, became NASA's first black
female engineer.
After 34 years at NASA, Jackson had earned the most senior
engineering title available. She realized she could not earn further promotions
without becoming a supervisor. She accepted a demotion to become a manager of
both the Federal Women’s Program, in the NASA Office of Equal Opportunity
Programs, and of the Affirmative Action Program. In this role, she worked to
influence the hiring and promotion of women in NASA's science, engineering, and
mathematics careers.
Jackson's story features in the 2016 non-fiction book Hidden
Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped
Win the Space Race. She is one of the three protagonists in Hidden Figures, the
film adaptation released the same year.
Personal life
Mary Winston was born on April 9, 1921, to Ella (née Scott)
and Frank Winston. She grew up in
Hampton, Virginia, where she graduated from the all-black George P. Phenix
Training School with highest honors.
Mary Jackson earned bachelor's degrees in mathematics and
physical science from Hampton University in 1942. She was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha.
Jackson served for more than 30 years as a Girl Scout
leader. She was noted in the 1970s for
helping African American children in her community create a miniature wind
tunnel for testing airplanes.
Jackson was married on 18 November 1944 to Levi Jackson,
Sr., a sailor in the U.S. Navy, and had two children, Levi Jackson, Jr., and
Carolyn Marie Lewis. She died on February
11, 2005, age 83.
Career
After graduation, Mary Jackson taught mathematics for a year
at an African-American school in Calvert County, Maryland. At that time, public schools were still
segregated across the South. She also began tutoring high school and college
students, which she continued to do throughout her life.
By 1943, she had returned to Hampton, where she became a
bookkeeper at the National Catholic Community Center there. She worked as a
receptionist and clerk at the Hampton Institute's Health Department. She was
pregnant during this time and eventually returned home for the birth of her
son. In 1951, she became a clerk at the Office of the Chief Army Field Forces
at Fort Monroe.
In 1951, Jackson was recruited by the National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), which in 1958 was succeeded by the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). She started as a research mathematician, or
computer, at the Langley Research Center in her hometown of Hampton, Virginia.
She worked under Dorothy Vaughan in the segregated West Area Computing Section.
In 1953, she accepted an offer to work for engineer
Kazimierz Czarnecki in the Supersonic Pressure Tunnel. The 4 by 4 foot (1.2 by
1.2 m), 60,000 horsepower (45,000 kW) wind tunnel used to study forces on a
model by generating winds at almost twice the speed of sound. Czarnecki encouraged Jackson to undergo
training so that she could be promoted to an engineer. She needed to take
graduate-level courses in mathematics and physics to qualify for the job. They
were offered in a night program by the University of Virginia, held at the
all-white Hampton High School. Jackson petitioned the City of Hampton to allow
her to attend the classes. After completing the courses, she was promoted to
aerospace engineer in 1958, and became NASA's first black female engineer. She analyzed data from wind tunnel experiments
and real-world aircraft flight experiments at the Theoretical Aerodynamics
Branch of the Subsonic-Transonic Aerodynamics Division at Langley. Her goal was to understand air flow, including
thrust and drag forces, in order to improve United States planes.
Jackson worked as an engineer in several NASA divisions: the
Compressibility Research Division, Full-Scale Research Division, High-Speed
Aerodynamics Division, and the Subsonic-Transonic Aerodynamics Division. She ultimately authored or co-authored 12
technical papers for NACA and NASA. She
worked to help women and other minorities to advance their careers, including
advising them how to study in order to qualify for promotions.
By 1979, Jackson had achieved the most senior title within
the engineering department. She decided to take a demotion in order to serve as
an administrator in the Equal Opportunity Specialist field. After undergoing
training at NASA Headquarters, she returned to Langley. She worked to make
changes and highlight women and other minorities who were accomplished in the
field. She served as both the Federal Women’s Program Manager in the Office of
Equal Opportunity Programs and as the Affirmative Action Program Manager, and
she worked to influence the career paths of women in science, engineering, and
mathematics positions at NASA. She
continued to work at NASA until her retirement in 1985.
Legacy
The 2016 film Hidden Figures recounts the NASA careers of
Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Dorothy Vaughan, specifically their work on
Project Mercury during the Space Race. The film is based on the book of the
same name by Margot Lee Shetterly. Jackson is portrayed in the film by Janelle
Monáe.
In 2018, the Salt Lake City School Board voted that Jackson
Elementary School in Salt Lake City would from then on be officially named
after Mary Jackson rather than (as it used to be) after President Andrew Jackson.
Awards and honors
Apollo Group
Achievement Award, 1969
Daniels Alumni Award for Outstanding Service to
Disadvantaged Youth
National Council of Negro Women, Inc. Certificate of
Recognition for Outstanding Service to the Community
Distinguished Service Award for her work with the Combined
Federal Campaign representing Humanitarian Agencies, 1975
Langley Research Center Outstanding Volunteer Award, 1975
Langley Research Center Volunteer of the Year, 1976
Iota Lambda Sorority Award for the Peninsula Outstanding
Woman Scientist, 1976
King Street Community Center Outstanding Award
National Technical Association's Tribute Award, 1976
Hampton Roads Chapter "Book of Golden Deeds" for
service
Langley Research Center Certificate of Appreciation,
1976–1977
Publications
Czarnecki, K. R.; Jackson, Mary W. (September 1958), Effects of Nose Angle and Mach Number on
Transition on Cones at Supersonic Speeds (NACA TN 4388), National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics
Jackson, Mary W.; Czarnecki, K.R. (1960), Investigation by Schlieren Technique of
Methods of Fixing Fully Turbulent Flow on Models at Supersonic Speeds, 242,
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Czarnecki, K. R.; Jackson, Mary W. (January 1961), Effects of Cone Angle, Mach Number, and Nose
Blunting on Transition at Supersonic Speeds (NASA TN D-634), NASA Langley
Research Center
Jackson, Mary W.; Czarnecki, K. R. (July 1961), Boundary-Layer Transition on a Group of Blunt
Nose Shapes at a Mach Number of 2.20 (NASA TN D-932), NASA Langley Research
Center
Czarnecki, K.R.; Jackson, Mary W.; Monta, William J. (1963),
Studies of Skin Friction at Supersonic
Speeds (Turbulent Boundary Layer and Skin Friction Data for Supersonic
Transports)
Jackson, Mary W.; Czarnecki, K. R.; Monta, William J. (July
1965), Turbulent Skin Friction at High
Reynolds Numbers and Low Supersonic Velocities, National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
Czarnecki, K.R.; Jackson, M.W.; Sorrells, R. B. III
(December 1, 1966), Measurement by wake
momentum surveys at Mach 1.61 and 2.01 of turbulent boundary-layer skin
friction on five swept wings, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Czarnecki, K.R.; Allen, J. M.; Jackson, M.W. (January 1,
1967), Boundary-layer transition on
hypersonic-cruise aircraft, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Czarnecki, K.R.; Jackson, M.W. (November 1, 1970), Theoretical pressure distributions over
arbitrarily shaped periodic waves in subsonic compressible flow and comparison
with experiment, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Czarnecki, K.R.; Jackson, Mary W. (December 1975). "Turbulent Boundary-Layer Separation
due to a Forward-Facing Step".
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